Cyclone in Bundaberg, Australia,

[Mr B]

Normally all boats are relatively safe in a Cyclone in the Burnett River at Bundaberg, Its 13 miles up stream from the mouth of the river,
Totally protected from storm surge and between the banks of the river,

But with the floods, all boats in the river and on the hard at the back of the slipway are all gone,
There usually hundreds of boats in the river, on floating docks at the Marina and in the river on moorings or anchored,

The floating moorings have been washed away, The boats moored in the River on moorings or anchored, have been pulled under with the debris and hyacinth coming down the river,

The floods are 2 feet deep in the street across the river in town above the top bank, From where my boat is on the slipway,

The floods are 2 or 3 feet below the bridge deck to the right of my boat on the slipway, TV pictures of the floods,

The shed at the back beside the hard stand, the water is level with the top of the wall, and rising,
No boats left on the hard stand, been washed away,
Usually it takes about 2 or 3 days for the floods to come down the river, so you can get your boat to safety before it happens,

But the floods have hit instantly, and nothing is left in the river,

My boat was there in November 2011, Its just so people can see where the flood level is now,
I dont have any information on the Marina at the heads or the Customs wharfe,

Its a bloody shame, as they are just recovering from the floods that hit in 2010.
The floating wharves across the street were all new in the last year or so,

They lost something like 130 boats in that flood in the river to the left of where my boat is on the slipway, You can see the boats on the floating wharfe across the river,

[S/V Alchemy]

Wow, that is rough. The weather seems particularly wild in Oz this summer.

[Mr B]

Im 1500 miles to the south of Bundaberg and we are having bushfires,

Our weird and wacky weather in OZ,

[Tobster]

Could you imagine a cyclone on top of that? poor buggars, always heart breaking seeing smashed boats and flooded homes
.

[markmyers]

The last word I had from the Bundaberg Port Marina (yesterday 1pm) was that all was ok but still in danger. The big worry is debris coming down. The marina office is without power and I am not sure if it is flooded or not but probably.

Is your boat ok Mr B?

I lost my house in the 2009 fires in Kinglake and am now anxiously waiting to hear if I have lost my boat too.

[Mr B]

Originally Posted by markmyers

The last word I had from the Bundaberg Port Marina (yesterday 1pm) was that all was ok but still in danger. The big worry is debris coming down. The marina office is without power and I am not sure if it is flooded or not but probably.

Is your boat ok Mr B?

I lost my house in the 2009 fires in Kinglake and am now anxiously waiting to hear if I have lost my boat too.

My boat is at The Yaringa Marina, Western Port Bay, Victoria, Its safe,

I live in the Hills behind Lilydale, Near Montrose, Those fires were a great worry to me as well. couple of sleepless nights,

They have a big one burning now north of Baw Baw, But its cool here, so its more or less contained, But a few hot windy days and we are well and truly in it again,

Sorry about your house, Very sad, My lady friend lost her house in Flowerdale, and a few of my friends lost their homes in Marysville,

I dont think you will have too much to worry about, as your right on the mouth of the river, so the water wont rise all that much unless you get a king tide coming in, and it backs it up,

I would think the staff at the Port Marina would pull all the boats in danger out of any harms way,

And the debris would float past the Marina there,
I dont think the water would rise enough to flood the Marina office, as it gets dumped in the ocean pretty quickly there, Its open to the sea,

Bundaberg is different as it gets backed up with nowhere to go, so it rises dramatically,

My sister lives almost on the beach about six miles north of Caloundra, and she has never been flooded yet, The floods just wash out to sea when your very close to the beach on the ocean,

Wish you luck Mate,

[mattofosho]

http://www.facebook.com/matt.cox.3745/photos_albums
(i dont know how to display them any other way)
Have a look at some pictures of last sundays events,

We were caught out in the most horrible way by the very fast rising waters,reports have the current getting up to 70 kmh.
We took the advice of the local trawlermen and local yachtsmen,but, they have never experienced it like this .. only 4 boats got down the river from our marina, Club marine have over 60 boats to look after.
Our yacht was washed away,and is now some 30 0 40 miles out to sea,full of water ,bow down. I flew over her yesterday.
We are uninsured,cruising trimarans are impossible to get cover for over here.
My wife and had to choose to stay onboard and attempt to get downriver at dawn,or abandon. We chose to abandon, the hardest,most painful decision ever made......
Osho has been our home for 4 years,we left with 4 bags of clothes,
we are blown away by the generosity of friends and total strangers,we have had clothing,cash,love and now a house to live(rent free).
We have our lives,and dreams unrealised,we are down but far from out

Matt

[SaucySailoress]

Thanks for the link, the photos paint a grim picture. I am sorry for your loss, and that of everyone else who has lost their boats. Very sad.

[stillbuilding]

Originally Posted by Mr B

My sister lives almost on the beach about six miles north of Caloundra, and she has never been flooded yet, The floods just wash out to sea when your very close to the beach on the ocean,

Wish you luck Mate,

Unless she lives up on the sand hills themselves she may get her feet wet if another cyclone comes close. All that flat land between Caloundra and Mooloolabah is about 12" above the water level and any storm surge will lift water level rapidly. I used to drive an old Holden FJ over that area and would bog easily at high tide cos really only shallow sand over the wet. really silly that local government has allowed development in that area. Hopefully not happen again but don't keep your valuables down low and make sure her insurance policy covers flood

[markmyers]

I have just returned to Bundaberg Port Marina and my boat is ok. The marina suffered some damage and half of one wharf was lost and at least one boat sunk. Sad indeed.

The only damage I seem to have suffered is that my house batteries are completely dead. I had every circuit turned off but all batteries are now dead. I have disconnected and removed them and each of them (there are 3) were sitting in their own battery box (open top, no lid) and were connected in parallel. One of the battery boxes was half filled with water, perhaps from the storm, and I wonder if this caused it to fail and then it dragged the other batteries down with it?

Still, this is a minor problem compared to those who lost their boats completely.