The waters in Brisbane are receding, and for now the flood is largely over. The waters peaked on Thursday morning, and thankfully they peaked about 1 metre lower than the authorities were fearing. It didn't quite get up to the 1974 levels and this made the difference for a lot of people, but for many others their homes were still very much inundated.

The metre made the difference for my brother's house in Rocklea: it meant that the water stayed underneath his house and thankfully didn't get up to the floorboards of his living level.

At work the floods inundated the basement level where we and the server-room are located, coming in with just over a foot of water. I still can't believe the timing of us moving the major infrastructure out of there to the data centre just last week. It has meant that the rest of the company's offices around the country being able to work relatively normal and to still have internet, email, and other essential services which are distributed centrally from Brisbane.

So now the great cleanup begins. It's amazing to see how much dirt, mud, silt, and other stuff is left behind by the receding waters. It is so heartening and joyful to see the many thousands of volunteers so willing to give up their time and effort to help out total strangers in their hour of need. It is times like these that communities truly come together and show their true spirit.

Unfortunately, i'm unable to physically assist in the cleanup; other than my generally weak physical condition, the immunosuppressive drugs that I am on to treat my liver condition leaves me susceptible to infection, something which the authorities are warning people against with the polluted floodwaters and the grime they have left behind.