My first thoughts were that when we moved from Brisbane to London 3 months ago, all my Queensland mates laughed about leaving the Sunshine State for UK weather.

My first thoughts were that when we moved from Brisbane to London 3 months ago, all my Queensland mates laughed about leaving the Sunshine State for UK weather. They've had nothing but rain since. A few years ago I helped write a book on the history of Brisbane Riverfront homes. Most of those owners knew exactly where the previous floods (especially 1974, which this one will roughly equal) had reached. In some cases, their multi-million dollar home had been submerged; in one case, the owner boasted how they had come home to find a yacht in their living room. They all knew that no matter how many dams were built or droughts were declared, floods would happen again. I hope they're all safe. Another interesting piece of information from that book's research was that it takes, on average, about 20 years for the effects of flooding to dissipate in the community. This is most obvious through riverfront housing prices - yes, they are multi-million dollars now (or at least, were 2 weeks ago), but it took a long time after 1974 (and 1955 and 1893) for the mindset to shift from 'major risk' to 'major desire'. Another way of saying: the impact of this flood on the city I love will last a generation.