Worst Flood Disaster in Decades in Australia
Australians recently
suffered from the worst flooding disaster in the past 30 years.
Normally the Gold Coast is lined with beautiful beaches teeming
with locals and tourists. But after days of continuous heavy
rain, homes have been damaged, and homeless people are living
in even worse condition. The natural disaster was shocking
to Tzu Chi volunteers as well, but as soon as the rain stopped,
they went out to give aid to others in need.
Severe rain in the Gold Coast
It seemed like the rain would never stop.
In the city, basements are filled with water, living room
carpets are soaking wet. The pier has been flooded over. This
is the worst flood since 1974 to hit the Gold coast, Australia.
In one day, over 500mm of rain fell on Queensland and New
South Wales. Landslides occured in the mountain areas. More
than 3,000 residents were evacuated. For many Australians,
this was the heaviest rain they had ever seen in their lives.
Worsening environment for the homeless
For residents living in remote and lower-level
areas, the non-stop rain was like a nightmare. Roads leading
to the city have been destroyed. In order to conserve their
food supply, people are eating just one meal a day. The situation
is worse for the homeless living in tents or cars. The public
park is the place they call home. They use plastic bags to
keep warm and dry against the Australian winter. But suffering
alone through this disastrous weather intensifies their feeling
of being forgotten by the world.
Volunteers help in during the disaster
The
homeless in the park get nervous when other people approach.
They fear they will be asked to leave. But this time, it's
a group of Tzu Chi volunteers. They are here to give the homeless
hot food. The park drifters are bewildered. They can hardly
believe someone would go out in the heavy rain and broken
roads to bring them food. Some had tears in their eyes when
they received their aid. For them, it's the first time in
a while since they have felt the warmth of human care. Some
volunteers do not speak English fluently, but their friendly
faces communicate their love perfectly.
Immediate relief for victims
In
fact, some of the volunteers have been seriously affected
by the flood as well. Their houses have also been flooded.
But they chose to work with local social workers to help others
in urgent need as their priority. The day after the rain stopped,
volunteers traversed damaged roads and unstable weather, driving
160 km from the Gold Coast to Lismore. The volunteer leader
said, they would rather take action than wait and do nothing.
They held a relief distribution for all the people affected
by the rain. 15 volunteers quickly came together in Lismore.
It
was the area most damaged by the rain. Lismore has suffered
3 serious floods in the past 30 years. The damage in this
flood is the worst among them all. It the relief distribution
effort even more challenging, and at the same time, the more
urgent. Their selfless action to help others in need first,
made them go from merely flood victims themselves to agents
of peace and comfort in the midst of disaster.
Edited from Da Ai (Great Love) News, a
broadcast program of Tzu Chi's television station. For more
information on Tzu Chi's DA AI TV, please visit http://www.newdaai.tv.
