The worst of the flooding seems to be over (but there are three months still to go before the end of the cyclone season). For a lot of people the harrowing part will be the cleaning up. Going over to help some people tomorrow.

I haven't been able to work for two days - the place where I work is perfectly safe, but it's just up the slope from a flooded area, and the electricity is turned off. Depending on who you are listening to at any time, there are up to 30,000 premises that have been flooded to some degree in Brisbane, and 100,000 where the power has been cut off.

There are quite a few people whose houses are safe, but they haven't been able to go anywhere from them because roads have been cut - that situation is also easing.

Next we are going to have a big brawl over why the local authorities gave planning permission for people to build in areas that were flooded in 1974 (nearly all the places in Brisbane that have been flooded were also flooded in 1974 or have been built in areas that were flooded in 1974). There will also be some discussion of the point that if you sell a car that has been immersed in floodwater, you are required to tell the buyer, but there is no similar provision in real estate contracts.

Try not to think about the people who were insured for everything but flood, and are now going to scream because the insurance companies won't pay their claims....