A day in the life of a hard-working tree-lopping crew

Meet the boys from Australian Tree Services. From when they arrived around 11am on Friday, until the last of them left at 5.30pm, this crew of 6 men worked their little backsides off. Never have I been so impressed with one company's work ethic as I was yesterday. Des and the boys were kept on the go all day, lopping one tree after another, and never once was any one of them anything other than thoroughly hard-working, polite, friendly and keen to work to the absolute best of their abilities for me.

They made the job look easy, but I for one know that it wasn't. I was gobsmacked more than once during the time they were here at the sheer quickness of their work, especially with Bobby the tree-climbing tree-lopper (makes him sound like a strange extra member of the Wiggles, but no matter) who, every time I turned around, seemed to either be up another tree, or climbing one in one direction or another. I certainly don't envy him his job!


These guys (and I honestly can't praise them highly enough) took a yard that looked a lot like, well, a storm had hit it (which obviously it had) and turned it into something to be utterly proud of. At all times, they were ultra careful with my fences, my power lines, my already established plants in pots, and even the grave of my little guinea pig who died about a year ago (they put a witches hat on it so no one would step there, and Bobby did his best not to drop branches on it - how lovely is that?). They were great with the dogs, patting them in the dog yard when on a breather for a few minutes, and didn't mind at all that I was out taking photos of them hard at work.



As each tree came down, it went into the Intimidator (an entirely well-named beast, believe me). This thing was huge, and what it did to whole trees is something that must be witnessed to be believed. I had the choice of keeping the mulch or having them remove it, but I chose to keep it, and here is the result:


All day Des and the boys worked constantly, with the ever-present threat of a storm over their heads one minute and bright sunshine the next.


Down came my palms (as can be seen above), down came the umbrella tree, down came the extra branches in my whatever-it-is between my courtyard and the backyard, but perhaps the most spectacular was the removal of the Norfolk Island Pine:









As you can see from the pictures, it was not the easiest job, especially for Bobby who had to climb it. But let it be said, these boys not only know how to work hard, but know their jobs very bloody well. I, for one, am happy to recommend them to anyone in the Brisbane area who needs the services of a tree-lopping company in this time of storms (or any other time, for that matter). They are worth every cent of what it cost, and I wouldn't hesitate to get them back in if I ever needed them again.

Now for some general other shots of the boys hard at work, including grinding the stumps after the tree-lopping was complete, and then I'll end my little post before today's storm hits.

South East Queensland now also declared National Disaster Area

It's fairly late here - about 11.30pm - but at least the storms have stopped for now. Tonight was a rather odd night here in the Caboolture Shire. While my Mum down in Brisbane was having hail stones the size of golf balls descend on her from every direction, strangely enough, I was watching the fireworks over the shopping centre that signal the arrival of Santa Clause.

Around 4 or 5ish this afternoon, which, for us here in Australia, means that night is almost upon us (the sun sets around 5.30-6pm in Queensland at least, anyway), I was out talking to my neighbour with my ever-present dog, when we got a couple of rumbles of thunder, a splash of rain, and then nothing.

Later on, around 7.30ish, about half an hour after I had spoken to Mum, who informed me she had a massive storm going on all around her, I was outside sitting in my driveway, watching the fireworks to the north, while to the south of me was black thunderous clouds and loads of lightening.

I have to admit - it was odd - there were stars above me, fireworks to the north, and vicious-looking storm clouds to the south. Not something you tend to see every day of the week. Apparently we are due a day of sunshine on Friday, but are in for more severe storms again on Saturday.

After the fireworks I was back inside for less than half an hour when the storms that Mum said were heading up towards me actually arrived. Smack bang in the middle of that my phone rang and I think it might have been my tree-loppers, but I could barely hear them :-)

If it was them, then I think they are coming around lunch time Friday to chop my trees down. I guess we will see around lunch time Friday!

For those who are interested, here are some up to date (for me, anyway) news reports about tonight's storm (third storm to hit Queensland in a week):

http://www.brisbanetimes.com.au/news/queensland/the-storms-are-not-over-yet/2008/11/20/1226770641125.html

http://www.news.com.au/couriermail/story/0,27574,24679141-3102,00.html

Today's storm on approach - due to hit any time now

It hasn't hit yet, but it's on its way. These are the scenes from my driveway. The top photo is looking to the south where Brisbane is, the bottom photo is directly in front of me and shows only the bottom half of what is actually a mushroom cloud. Don't let the fluffy white nature of these clouds fool you. They are dangerous things. I don't plan on being online for much longer, as that storm is very close now and is due to hit fairly soonish.

Here's hoping it's just a light bit of rain (and pigs might fly, I know)....

Photos from the ABC news broadcast and elsewhere

I've had a trawl of the websites, and came up with a few rather scary images. Not as bad as some floating around though. The one above is of the storm on its approach Sunday afternoon. Not something you ever want to see twice in a lifetime.

Recent news is that the new road to Toowoomba in the Lockyer Valley has been washed away during a land-slide last night, and so people are being asked to use the old road, which is a two lane track compared to the new one. One lane in each direction. Venture that way at your peril.

The Inner City Bypass in Brisbane is awash, with the Brisbane City Council currently pumping 11 mega-litres of water from it.

The Centenary Highway is also under water, so travelling to Brisbane or within Brisbane isn't advisable currently.

The train system and bus networks are questionable just now (understandable), and a hell of a lot of roads are still out. Scary stuff. Any travel plans I had have been cancelled. Now I just have the panic of if I remove the trees up against the front of my house, will that mean that in the next cyclonic winds, I might lose my roof? I will have to have a chat to the tree-loppers when they get here on the weekend.

Thankfully, we have our Boys (and Girls) in the Australian Army on hand to help. The people of Brisbane owe them one huge thank you when this crisis is over. That said, we also owe the volunteers from Sydney, Mackay, and the like, as well as the low-level prisoners and our own boys (and girls) in Blue for their incredible help at this time. Yep. I said prisoners. You read that right.

We are in for a really bad storm season, and looking out my window at the rapidly gathering black clouds isn't helping my feeling of unease, nor is the sweat dripping off me from the sheer heat - very similar to Sunday before that storm.

What I wouldn't give to be somewhere where the weather isn't so vicious. England, perhaps? :-) After these storms I think a nice bit of being snowed in would do me rather nicely. Oh well, tis to dream, I guess.

Storm Update - Thursday 20th November 2008

Four days after the worst storm in 25 years, and these are just some of the scenes to be had in the general vicinity of Morayfield Shopping Centre. I went for a walk down that way today, as I know that the pedestrian walkway under the train bridge (see last photo) is well known for flooding whenever there's even a few drops of rain, due to its close vicinity to Sheep Station Creek. But what surprised me the most, was finding that the pedestrian access on Morayfield Road was also under water. In my year and a half in the Caboolture Shire, I've never known that pass to be anything but dry. (see picture 3). The skate ramp park is currently a lake, as you can see from pictures 1 and 4, and the bridge near the pedestrian access on Morayfield Road is a river at present. Normally it is something more resembling a dry creek bed. You can see (in picture 2) that there is a walkway under the bridge, and just how high the water is, by where it comes on the railing.

The shopping centre itself appears to have been under water at some stage in the last four days as the bottom car park still shows signs of flooding, and the walk along Morayfield Road (which included a scramble down a hillside for me at one stage) also shows that the flood waters were up and over the road - something that hasn't happened in a very long time.

From the bulletins today we get news that The Gap has suffered a landslide - not what they need right now, and that Rosewood, where I spent my formative years is almost completely underwater. The Bremer River is still raging, the train lines to Ipswich and beyond are still out, and the Lockyer Valley in the Darling Downs is preparing for more flooding over the next few days.

From Mum I got the report that Dad woke up to find his property flooded, and his horses and dogs loose all over the place.

Off the Western Coast of Australia sits Cyclone Anika - biding its time - before it strikes. We don't need any of this, but it is, afterall, storm season here in Sunny and Hot Queensland.

Storm Warnings for South East Queensland are still in force

I think I've had pretty much all I can stand of Queensland weather for now. We had yet another storm last night, and are currently under a weather alert from the Bureau of Meteorology for a Severe Storm Warning for South East Queensland. Great. The storm they said was due tonight looks like it is well and truly on its way. The trains between Ipswich and Rosewood, on Brisbane's western reaches, are currently down due to the Bremer River flooding last night, and most of the Darling Downs and Lockyer Valley regions are also under threat of floods.

The Gap, in Brisbane, still looks like the site of a bomb strike, with cleanups continuing, and four days after the storms of Sunday, there are houses yet without power both in Brisbane and up here in the Caboolture Shire. I'm lucky in having power currently, I guess.

An ex-boyfriend of mine rang me around 1am last night and then proceeded to send me an sms around 3am just to let me know that his flat was flooding. He lives in an area of Brisbane that has never actually flooded before, to my knowledge, so it was rather surprising. I feel very sorry for him, but given I was going through a rather spectacular storm show of my own at the time, I didn't rightly have a lot of sympathy for him just then. I rang him this morning though, and apart from a few boxes, and his mattress, he didn't actually have a lot of damage.

My yards are still rather damp after last night's storm - currently a no-go area without Wellies :-)

The kookaburras are out in force this morning though - first morning of sunshine we've had since Sunday morning. And the Ibis are everywhere!

The Ibis seem to always appear after a big storm. I've seen them walking over the tops of trees as though they were on firm ground. It's amazing to watch, and they keep up quite a chatter when there's a lot of them. They are huge birds too, so when there are a lot of them all together it is somewhat mind-blowing.

Sometime soon, I will get time to sit down and write a blog that isn't about the weather, although I do believe that this Storm Season is going to be a ripper one - let's just hope there isn't too many more storms like Sunday's!

Anyway, things to do.

Brisbane declared a National Disaster Area

On Sunday, 16th November, 2008, the worst storm in 25 years hit the South East Queensland area, decimating The Gap, a suburb in Queensland's capital city, Brisbane, and causing major damage to the Caboolture Shire, just south of the Sunshine Coast.

The Australian Army is out in force today, two days after the disaster, still helping with the clean-up in The Gap, and locals are pitching in wherever possible.

In my little area of Queensland, the other area hit badly by the storm (Caboolture Shire), we have experienced non-stop rain, localised flooding, and blackouts over the past few days, though nothing at all compared to Sunday night at the height of the storm.

From where I was, I experienced something as close to being inside an actual cyclone as you can probably get without actually being there. The newspapers are saying we had winds in excess of 130km/hr, and that we in the Caboolture Shire had 107mm of rain during the storm.

The day started out as a typical Summer day in sunny and hot Queensland. By mid-afternoon it had reached fairly high temperatures and the humidity was simply awful. By four o'clock, the sky was both black AND green at the same time. I don't rightly remember a lot of thunder and lightening, although apparently there were. What I remember the most is the driving rain and the cyclonic winds. I remember watching my Dalmatian struggling to get to me, and failing, being pushed back by severe winds at least three times. Eventually, through will-power alone I think, he made it to the sanctuary of my lounge room where we camped out in relative, if rather dark (the power having gone off shortly after the storm started) safety for the next six or so hours.

Throughout that time, we watched some rather spectacular goings on by Mother Nature outside the windows.

At one stage I couldn't see the houses on either side of me, and they are very close. I couldn't see the train station across the road, and I couldn't see my back fence either. Later on I saw that the two huge Ironbark Gums down behind my yard (but up against my fence) were actually horizontal for while, as the wind was severe. My clothes line is bent where it got hit by a whiplash from one of those trees as well.

The trees at the back of my house snapped in various places as did three of my front trees. Over the next week or so, I'm due to have the tree loppers in to clear up a lot of the damage and remove the trees that have been declared unsafe due to damage.

At one point I looked out my bedroom window and watched my recycle bin being flung around my driveway - actually lifted up and thrown. It landed in my tomato plants. I also looked out the back over my deck when I could actually see beyond my fence and watched the flood approaching. There's a canal down behind me in the paddock (it's called a council easment though), and it flooded easily during the storm. (It's the white strip above the top of my fence in the photo) It never has in the year and a half that I've been here, so it was a bit scary to see that. I also watched the flood in my back yard (already mostly under water) racing down the little hill to meet up with the rapidly rising mini-flood waters, which was happening entirely too quickly for my liking.

This morning (Tuesday) I took a walk down to the back fence and could still see the floodwaters in the canal. We are due for more severe storms this week, and for most of the Summer. Here's hoping this is the worst of them though.