Whilst not wishing people to have to suffer through adversity like the current floods in Australia, it has been interesting to observe people's reaction to what has happened. The Queensland government on the whole reacted very professionally to the deaths and the flood damage in that State, holding press conferences every two hours, replying immediately to rumours and poor information, and firmly taking charge. The most amazing thing was how people volunteered to help prepare for the flood, and to clean up the mess as the water receded.
People were facing the return to their home knowing there was no power, inches of mud and slime over everything they owned, and then opened their door to find 20 people armed with shovels, buckets, and mops ready to help. Within hours the carpets, in some cases even the walls, were out on the footpath, and the house scrubbed clean. Tens of thousands of volunteers were bussed into the flood areas so they could help out.
It was also pleasing to note that looting was kept to a minimum, some, I assume professional thieves, tried it and were quickly jailed. There is up to 10 years jail for looting in a natural disaster, so I hope the book gets thrown at these people. At the time of writing only 14 arrests have been made, showing how the majority of people in our community are honest and empathetic. Already the media is moving to allocate blame for what happened, why can't we just accept there is risk in every aspect of life and learning from experience does not mean blaming people? My house had minor storm damage before Christmas and we finally got everything repaired yesterday, our experience was nothing compared to most and hopefully my insurance will cover the hard costs in any case.
The lesson in all this is that "value to others" (VTO) is alive and well in Australia, we are a true community, big enough to have a unique culture, and small enough to each be important and respected. We need reminding that we are truly a "lucky country" and these floods have indirectly done that.
