Well, we're safe here because we live on the side of a hill (and the slope is not steep enough for landslides).

The trouble is that it has been raining on and off since October, and the grouns is saturated, so now everything that falls runs off instead of soaking in.

The Wivenhoe Dam holds an enormous volume of water (nearly twice its official capacity as a water supply), and this has a moderating effect on water levels in Brisbane, but it is so close to absolutely full the they are letting some of the water out, and this is combining with a high tide to inundate some low lying areas of Brisbane. The wort combnation of river flow and tide is expected on Thursday.

Levels then will be as high as or higher than in 1974, when we had serious flooding. A large number of people who have since bought flood-prone properties on the principle that it won't happen for another hundred years are now a bit nervous.