Shropshire families tell of Brisbane flooding

SHROPSHIRE FAMILIES caught up in the devastating Australian floods today spoke of the horror as water swept through the city of Brisbane.

Former Shrewsbury resident Paul Manford feared his wife and newborn baby would be left without enough hospital staff to look after them when they arrived.

Water engulfed the country's third largest city, forcing a partial evacuation.

And David and Mandy Massey, who moved to Brisbane from Aston-on-Clun 12 years ago, sent us dramatic images of flood water just minutes from their suburban home.

Mr Manford, who moved from Radbrook Green to Australia 10 years ago, said he now had to plan his journey to hospital to visit his wife Yulan and new daughter Sophia carefully as many of the roads are flooded.

His daughter was born on Tuesday just before the flood water arrived.

He said: "The staff had an emergency meeting in the middle of the ward when we were at the hospital and talking about their homes being flooded. They were working out who could get to work and who couldn't."

Mr Manford, 47, who also has a three-year-old son, Oliver, works as a management consultant in the city.

He is unable to get to work because his office has been forced to close because of a city-wide power cut.

He said: "My wife and daughter are still in hospital so the difficulty is finding ways to get there on the roads that are still open.

"We had 24 hours warning so people could make arrangements to leave their homes but there was a bit of panic buying in the shops which started running out of fresh food."

Mr and Mrs Massey have their daughter, Sarah, and her boyfriend Antony Nobbs from Clee St Magaret, near Ludlow, on holiday with them. Mr Massey, 47, said: "I've never known anything like this.

"It's a bit of a strange feeling," he said. "We've got blue skies today but the city is flooding."

Mr Massey, a mechanic who runs his own business, said although people were calm and "getting on", there had been panic buying in the shops.

"We had to queue to get bread, there's no milk and all the meat is sold out.

"The water is fine to drink, but in the city you must boil it for E.coli."

"We've had flooding before, but nothing on this scale.

"What can you compare it to?"

Daughter Sarah, 24, said she and Antony had planned to return to Shropshire at the end of this month.

She said she had never seen anything like the devastation on their doorstep.

"It rained constantly for two or three days non-stop. And there was really bad thunder on Tuesday. I've never heard it so loud.

"In the butcher's shop people had water up to their chins."

But she said people were working together in the face of hardship.

"We went to the shops but there was no milk or bread, but they said they could offer us biscuits. They joked about it and there is a sense that we are in this together."

Mr Massey said people were now volunteering equipment and help for the clear-up.

"The people here, when there's a bit of a crisis, they all band together. It's very different from some other countries.

"The Australian spirit is very good."

At least 24 people have died and at least 74 others are missing in Queensland.

State Premier Anna Bligh said: "Queensland is reeling this morning from the worst natural disaster in our history and possibly in the history of our nation," said an emotional Bligh.

By Emma Kasprzak and Andrew Owen