New month - new weather threat

While the future of Colleges by the River still hangs on the outcome of meetings within the Ipswich City Council, the clearing of the park has slowed down from the action of last week.
The extent of the damage was unbelievable - and evident from this aerial shot taken by a photographer from the Courier Mail newspaper.

The question is whether the cafe - still sitting behind a fence on the hill overlooking the park - will be returned in the near future. Colleges Crossing will take a long time to recover.
Meanwhile, the debate continues in the media whether it was a flash storm flood -or a riverine flood. How the insurance companies define what destroyed your house or business will determine whether you get financial support or not. There was an attempt by insurers in 2008 to get a proper definition by it was opposed by consumer legal groups - and knocked by by the ACCC.
The insurance council said this morning (ABC Radio) that about 70 percent of claimants will get paid.
Already insurance companies are playing it by the book - their book, and for businesses like Colleges by the River - our insurance cover will never be what it was.
Meantime - our family in Townsville is sitting in the path of a monster cyclone. The hits just keep on coming. The start of 2011 won't be forgotten for a long time in Queensland.
To get an idea of the immensity of this cyclone - click on the headline to this post - for some spectacular colour animation of what is bearing down on the North Queensland coast.

Ground Zero

Today was the first occasion since 10th January that I was able to walk through the park at Colleges Crossing.
The impact of the devastating flood is awe inspiring - the massive height of the river is evident on the hill overlooking the park and up the few trees that remain. Everything else has been smashed and levelled.

Stunned locals have flocked to the park since the Colleges Crossing bridge opened yesterday. A group from the army were also on hand today to survey the damage - as a Navy helicopter flew overhead. This is not a mop and bucket job - this is a clearance job worthy of our military.

The media were also on hand - from the press and tv - recording the devastation. Even when the cafe was taken to safety on the morning of the 10th - the river while rising through the park didn't seem to have much power behind it. What happened since then was that a relentless torrent of water has ripped and stripped the parkland. The height that the river reached is hard to imagine until you stand in the middle of the park and see metal wrapped around posts - posts bolted in concrete ripped out and twisted, wood and metal toilet blocks just washed away.

We've survived floods at the cafe - the latest 10m efforts in October and December, and after the water subsided - it was back to work, brewing the coffee.
This time, the cafe will be sitting on the side of the road on the top of the hill for sometime.
We've donated ice creams which were put into storage, to the Australia Day celebrations in Ipswich. We'll now have to wait for our own reopening celebrations - watch this space.

Memories

Click on the title and you'll see what Colleges Crossing looked like in the early morning of the 5th June 2010.
Its in sharp contrast to what has happened to our park in the last couple of weeks.
It will take a massive effort on behalf of the Ipswich City Council to rebuild and replant the park to anything like it was.
The flood damage has levelled just about every tree and washed away the landscape and gardens.
The cafe was removed - as it was designed for - on the 10th January, just in time as the flood front made its way downstream.
This is the slot that the cafe rested in before and after:

The bridge at Colleges Crossing was a hive of activity today - as the clean up of the roads got underway. But, the river is still flowing over the bridge preventing engineers carrying out their inspections.

The road is not only a link to the Colleges Crossing Recreation Reserve, but is also an important connection for people accessing schools in the Ipswich area. With the weir bridge to be repaired - it will be the only link. Most of the school buses are on the Ipswich side of the river - and a round trip via the Centenary Motorway is 100 kilometres. School starts next week.

After taking a nostalgic look at the June pictures - it will be interesting to see how long it will take to repair and the park - and what it will look like. Fingers crossed.

We'll be back!

Channel 9 News finally gave us all a close up look at the destruction of our beautiful park - and, for those who have spent any time at Colleges Crossing - it was gut wrenching.
The park has been a magnet for people of the south-east for a century. Now its a pile of rubble.
But, the council has pledged to rebuild - and the job is enormous. Have a look at the Nine news story by Darren Curtis: http://video.au.msn.com/watch/video/colleges-crossing-a-disaster-zone/xr3nld5
or click on the headline.
Its hard to picture what it will look like after the bulldozers start the reshaping of the park.
Getting there is also going to be a challenge - I checked out the alternate route over the Mt Crosby weir road - and its already a construction zone.

The Mt Crosby Road bridge over Colleges Crossing has been submerged since the 8th Jan and punished by the raging Brisbane River flood. Look what that water did to the park - what has it done to the structural integrity of the bridge.
When can we start selling coffee? I think its going to be some time before we can realistically consider it.
But this area is resilient - and changed a bit over the years - here's a picture taken in 1915.

As the promised reconstruction gets underway its doubtful that it will look exactly like it used to - here's some memories:

Whatever happens - it will still be Colleges
- a unique riverside park. And, we'll be there at its rebirth.

Park Devastated

The water has dropped in the Brisbane River at Colleges Crossing with the gates closed at Wivenhoe.
The river height monitor at the Mt Crosby weir is not registering at the moment - but one would expect that the roadway would be exposed.
Word is that there is a lot of damage on the approaches to the bridge. At Colleges Crossing this afternoon the bridge was still under water, and the roads are covered in debris and silt.

From the Karana Downs side of the river the damage to the park on the opposite bank is obvious. This has been enormous destruction. Aerial shots from nearmap.com taken last Friday showed that the tree that was a major feature of the cafe had been uprooted. Today the scene in the park was akin to the aftermath of a cyclone.

What appears to be the bird hide has been dumped into the middle of the river.

As the river keeps falling, and when Mt Crosby Road is open it will be possible to have a close-up inspection of the disaster. It doesn't look pretty, and won't be fixed quickly. So many trees have been destroyed, and it appears that a lot of the park has been reshaped by the raging torrent over the past two weeks.

This afternoon, a wild storm raged through the area, something that is becoming a bit repetitive of late.
There's also a warning of a flood (king) tide expected on Friday in Brisbane. The river is still tidal at Colleges Crossing, and it will be interesting to see if that big tide on Friday will have much impact.

High & Dry

The cafe and the two halves of the caretaker's residence are sitting on the hill overlooking the still flooded Colleges Crossing.
Click on the heading to have a look at the pic from nearmap.com will did a flyover during the Brisbane flood crisis.
The flood water is still surging through the park with the Brisbane River Mt Crosby hovering around 15.85m
From memory, I think around we should see the road across the weir appear around 11m. As we now enter the second week of the flood disaster in this area, it will take a few days before we can see what damage has been done.
About 10,000 cars a day use Mt Crosby Road over the Colleges Crossing bridge, so to have all road access to Ipswich cut is a major disruption to a lot of people.
People can't believe that while the river is so benign in Brisbane at the moment that we are still suffering from flood waters.

The river is wide

Checked out the river at Karana Downs where Mt Crosby Road winds over the bridge at Colleges Crossing. While the flood threat passed last week for most of Brisbane, here at Colleges Crossing it hasn't dropped much.
Wivenhoe dam is at 123% and dropping, discharging around 299,000 megalitres a day. The gates closing sequence is underway and at this stage the gates are expected to be closed by mid week.
The river is still hundreds of metres wide at the crossing, and we'll have to wait until the water subsides to get any idea how much devastation there is in the park.

The Mt Crosby weir is at 16.2m and rising at the moment, despite the gate shutdown sequence at the dam.
What can be seen from the opposite bank is the frame of the shade sails that were a feature of the cafe. From a distance it's hard to make out how our iconic tree survived. It seems like there's a huge pile of debris in the area.
What I think was the bird hide is just some sticks and very little else.

Some official estimates put the time frame of the water dropping enough to access the park as the middle of next week.
In the meantime, it just a waiting game.

When 100 percent is half-full

Many people, including me have struggled with the percentages used by authorities to explain the amount of water held by Wivenhoe dam.
For example, during the Brisbane flood event it was said that the dam was 186% full. Now there's a head-scratching number. How can a dam be more than 100% full?
It appears that the full capacity of the dam is 225% - with 100% referring to the storage of the region's drinking water and anything above that is for flood storage.
Still don't understand? Check out an article published yesterday by the Australian Geographic. Simply click on this article's headline.
One thing the article doesn't touch on is the legislation that requires seqwater to drain the floodwaters stored - 'within the required 7 days'.
Now what's that all about?
The economic cost of the Queensland floods is expected to be the highest in Australia's history. The federal government has already paid out $52m in immediate support to victims. The Premier's flood appeal has raised $85 million, and Ms Bligh has promised all the money will go directly to victims.
The river level at Colleges Crossing is still at catastrophic heights, and it should be remembered that the level at Mt Crosby at the peak of the flood was 26m. Colleges Crossing has been hit by a series of floods over the last couple of months as a result of those dam releases of stored floodwaters to comply with the 'required 7 days' in the legislation.
As everyone is aware the cafe at Colleges Crossing was removed last Monday as the flood levels got to critical levels.

Well since then I've be able to dig up a copy of the Local Bulletin news magazine from 1996 which featured the May floods of that year during which the cafe was also moved to the top of the hill overlooking the park.
The estimated cost for the repairs nearly 15 years ago was $150,000. The figure this year will leave that in the shade.

These latest releases from Wivenhoe dam are continuing around 300,000 megalitres a day, and Colleges Crossing is expected to remain inundated until the middle of next week.
It won't be a pretty sight when the water finally subsides.
It may been long time before the cafe reopens.

Nothing Changing

The river level at the Mt Crosby Weir is still at 16.5m - a level that has been constant since Friday.
Authorities are still releasing water from the Wivenhoe Dam - which is around 150 percent of capacity.
At the start of the weekend it was dumping water into the Brisbane River at about 300,000 megalitres a day.
It's expected that the Mt Crosby Weir bridge will be under water until the middle of next week.
Life is getting back to normal - washing clothes, unpacking evacuation essentials (still) and slowly stocking up on food.
There was an enormous generousity of spirit among Brisbane residents yesterday, and today as the massive clean-up continues.

Survivor - Karana Downs

With power restored last night (8pm) - life returned to normal after a week in which we had been cut off from the outside world. No electricity, no phone, no food, no petrol, and cars packed to the roof ready for evacuation. The Mt Crosby weir was drowned under 26 metres of flood waters - Colleges Crossing continued to the cut - and the only road east to Brisbane was also under water.
The authorities finally realised that there were people living in the exotic far-flung suburbs of Karana Downs, Mt Crosby and Bellbowrie, late Thursday afternoon - despite the fact that these areas were the first to be inundated by the huge flood. By the way - there's about 25,000 people living in this area. A lot to lose in disaster planning.

The Brisbane River level at Mt Crosby today is still running at near 17 metres.
The river at Colleges Crossing is still raging on a wide front. The Navy is running emergency boats across the water from Karana Downs to the Chuwar side.

The above picture is taken from the Karana Downs side of the road leading to the bridge across Colleges Crossing. Remember what it looked like - it has been underwater for the best part of three months.

The devastation of Colleges Crossing looks complete. There were reports that the iconic fig tree at the cafe had been uprooted. Observing the scene from the Karana Downs side yesterday there was nothing to see but a sea of water. What could be seen was the awnings that surrounded the cafe laying crumpled up against the road up the hill. The peak flood level reached halfway up the hill.
If the tree and awnings have been swept away, it is fair to assume that the entire deck that the cafe was on has been devastated.

The above photo is of what used to be the Colleges Crossing park.

Seqwater yesterday increased the releases from Wivenhoe dam to 301,000 megalitres - so the flooding through the area will continue for sometime. It will take a while the the waters to subside - so that the full extent of the damage to the park can be assessed.
But, it would be fair to say that the cafe will be closed for a long time.
Today, it starting raining, and the cycle starts over again - there are cyclones dawdling around off the coast.

Wivenhoe to reduce flows

Seqwater a short time ago announced that it was going to reduce releases from the Wivenhoe - as a huge flood front moves towards Brisbane.
The Flood Operations Centre will reduce releases slowly tonight. The first reduction will be to 610,000 megalitres per day.
The recent 10m river levels at Colleges Crossing were the result of releases of 130,000 megalitres.
The current Brisbane River levels at the Mt Crosby weir is 22.94m - and at Colleges Crossing, where the cafe once proudly stood, is at 15.81m.
If you live in the western suburbs and want to look at the flood modelling for your area or street - click on the heading.
Where the 25ha Colleges Crossing park was, is now submerged under a raging Brisbane River.

Some residents at Karalee have already evacuated. The Bremer River which runs into the Brisbane at Karalee is expected to flood Ipswich at record levels.
The persistent heavy rain of today has moderated tonight - and it will be interesting how tomorrow turns out.
The flood crisis has caused a lot of anxiety in the Brisbane area - especially with predictions that river levels will exceed the disastrous 1974 flood.

Lucky Cafe

With the devastation that is hitting Toowoomba and the Lockyer area - we are extremely lucky that we were able to move our cafe before the wall of water hit Colleges Crossing.

Trucking the cafe up to the top of the hill at Allawah Road means that we were able to save the cafe. The water through Colleges Crossing park, has now reached 15m. For those who know the cafe, the water level is above the hedge that surrounded the cafe.
Here's an old photo to give you an idea of the height.

There's more to come, with the flood front from Lockyer creek to join up with the rising Brisbane River. The whole of the 25ha park is underwater.

We count ourselves lucky that the cafe was designed to be moved - avoiding massive damage to the building and its contents.

The massive amount of water going over the Mt Crosby weir is an awesome sight.
It of course means that there is no access to Ipswich from the west of Brisbane.
Up Toowoomba way the damage and devastation is unprecedented and our hearts go out to them - its been compared to Cyclone Tracey that wiped out Darwin in 1975.

This is real coffee To-Go

Talk about take-away coffee- our cafe Colleges by the River was today lifted onto a low-loader and taken to higher ground.

Its expected that the Brisbane River height will hit 14m at the Colleges Crossing Park - and there's a spectacular amount of water washing through the area at the moment. Its currently 11.66m in the park - and the Wivenhoe dam is due to dump a huge amount of water on top of that. The water is lapping at the wall of the cafe deck.

Click this link to track the river height:
http://www.bom.gov.au/fwo/IDQ65389/IDQ65389.540063.plt.shtml
Or click the heading.

Mt Crosby Road is well underwater at the Colleges Crossing bridge - and the only other route to Ipswich - the Mt Crosby weir is at 13.97m. The only way to get to Ipswich from the western suburbs is via the Centenary Highway - a trip of about 50kms.

And, things are only going to get worse for those who live in this beautiful area - one of the roads to Bellbowrie is under.

The cafe, and the caretaker's cottage are now sitting on the side of the road at Allawah Road.

All that is left in the park is only memories.

Packed and Ready to Go

Called in by the local authorities and SES late last night to prepare the cafe for a new flood peak.
Word is that the flood waters from Lockyer Creeek - near Gatton will combine with increased releases from Wivenhoe dam - and hit around 13m at Colleges Crossing.
Water is not far from the cafe wall with the river level tonight at 10.21m.
The SES joined staff in packing and preparing the cafe for evacuation.

We were also advised that the only alternate route to the Colleges Crossing bridge - the Mt Crosby weir is closed. The river level at the weir is 12.69m.
That means for anyone living in this area - a 50km round trip.
Which local politician said recently that no money should be spent on Colleges Crossing? Good luck with your future career.
If the flood levels do reach the heights predicted - the cafe and the caretakers house will be shifted to higher ground.
It is one of the unique features of the Colleges by the River cafe that it was designed for just such an emergency.
Tomorrow (Monday) a decision will be made whether to shift the cafe to higher ground on the back of a flatbed truck.
But, preparing for that meant that staff and SES people worked until the early hours packing everything up.
The caretakers residence was also prepared for evacuation - it may also be transported out of the park.
Work teams will be back on site early in the morning to access the situation.
Thanks to everyone who helped with the work at the cafe throughout the night.

Closing Down

The flood level in the Brisbane River at Colleges Crossing is reaching record highs. For the first time in memory - the water level is threatening the emergency entrance to the park. The official river level has broken 9m - and high tide is due at 4pm.
Its a massive amount of water raging through the area, and locals will have to use the one-lane bridge over the weir at Mt Crosby for some time yet.
The rain has been relentless, and flooding in the catchment and streams can only add to the flood levels in the area.
The estimated damage bill to Colleges Crossing Recreation Reserve during the most recent flood was $45k.
Because of the threat of rising water and the possibility of the water rising higher we have reluctantly closed down the cafe's operations so that we can evacuate through the only exit left. We will access our situation again tomorrow morning.
We've living up to our slogan - There's no place like it, and, in Brisbane and Ipswich at the moment that's true.
We will post some photos this afternoon.

Relaxing Sunday

Colleges by the River is open - serving breakfast and espresso coffee.
The park is part of the river bed at the moment - with flood heights matching the October levels.
While its low tide at the moment - the river height is a fraction under 9 metres.
The Mt Crosby weir is 11.21m and rising. The weather is overcast - but quite calm - so far.
We appreciate the support of those people who are making the effort to visit the park and cafe.
There's no place in the south-east where you can watch the floods close up while enjoying your bacon and eggs.

River on rise

The brisbane river at Colleges Crossing is at 9 metres tonight - up nearly 7 metres in a couple of days. The river at alternate route over the Mt Crosby weir is pushing 11 metres. That's a fair torrent of water. The river is raging through Colleges Crossing park - and over the bridge on Mt Crosby Rd. More wet weather forecast for tomorrow. The disruptions look likely to continue for a while yet. Fingers crossed that we can open the cafe Colleges by the River tomorrow morning.

Cafe Open!

Despite the road closures - Mt Crosby Road is again barricaded, the cafe is open. The park is closed - with the Brisbane River level hitting 6 metres, and the bridge over Colleges Crossing is again underwater.
Seqwater is releasing 100,000+ megalitres a day out of the dam and the river level is expected to climb during the day.
While the main gates are closed - customers can still access the park through the gate opposite the caretaker's house.
The weather is fine at the moment - but this monsoon-like event that has enveloped Queensland isn't going away with forecasters predicting wet weather until March.
But, today the sun is shining, the wind is calm - and the cafe is doing what it does best - making breakfast and serving great espresso coffee.
A ringside seat on the angry river is just a bonus.

River Rising - Road Closed

Seqwater has started releasing more water from Wivenhoe dam this afternoon. This is on top of another bridge-closing high today. The barricades are back on Mt Crosby Road, and the Colleges Crossing bridge is again underwater. Its a rare bridge - more underwater than above it.
The dam release will hit a flooding 100,000 megalitres by tomorrow, that's not much below the level reached in late December. It will mean that the Colleges Crossing park will again be inundated.
The clean-up of the park from the previous event is said to be costing the Ipswich City Council $45k.
Again the Moggill ferry is shut-down.
A bit of feedback in the Queensland Times newspaper over the statement by local Labor MP Mr Wendt that we don't need a new bridge over the crossing.
We will check the weather and the park tomorrow morning to check whether the cafe will be open.

Not again!

With another downpour today, and Wivenhoe dam at 100%, there's reports that there may need to be another release from the dam.
Gate operations are likely to commence when flood levels in the lower Lockyer Creek subside.
It's expected that any release will impact on Colleges Crossing for several days.
Water is being released into Wivenhoe from Somerset dam through a regulator valve and that release was due to be increased tonight.
It would be the fourth swamping of colleges crossing in as many months, and again could close Mt Crosby Road.
Already there's political grumblings with Ipswich Mayor Paul Pisasle voicing his frustration with the constant closure of the road.
State member for Moggill Bruce Flegg is also calling for action - describing the road as a 'vital link' between the western suburbs and Ipswich.
Mt Crosby Rd carries 10,000 cars a day. During flooding of the Colleges Crossing bridge the traffic is diverted around the one-lane Mt Crosby weir, and the dirt road definitely can't handle it.
Ipswich councillor Paul Tully also wants a bridge built between Moggill and Ipswich - finally doing away with the ferry service.
And, the state government - well, they say there's an investigation into the Colleges Crossing problem - with a report out later this year.
In the meantime, rain is expected to continue - as well as the uncertainty.

We're Open!

This morning - the barricades on Mt Crosby Rd have disappeared - the bridge is finally open. Goodbye to driving around the Mt Crosby weir. The park gates are open and the Brisbane River is back to its old languid way. The Moggill ferry is now also back plying its trade.
The cafe is back operating for the first time since the 20th December, we did try opening on the 30th but, a wild storm put pay to that.
It feels good to get the coffee machine up and running and breakfast on the hot plate. The clean up of park facilities is now underway.
Showers are predicted for this afternoon - with a chance of a storm.
We are slowly restocking - a fresh bread delivery this morning - and we should be fully operational in a couple of days.
While we had to abandon the cafe, we were only a tiny part of the flood crisis in Queensland - where 200,000 people have been displaced. Our heart goes out to the people of central Queensland who are doing it tough. And, now the town of St George is facing a flood emergency.
Its been a tough time for everybody, but Queenslanders are resilient.

Thanks, Hughie.

The weather was great this morning. Cleaned up the cafe - hoping that some time this week we may finally open.
This afternoon, rumbling thunder and rain.
Anyway, the Brisbane river at Colleges Crossing has dropped over 7 metres from its peak flood height just days ago. The park is still locked down, and even though the river is back to normal - the bridge is still closed, and still no access from the western suburbs along Mt Crosby Road.
The weather forecast for tomorrw suggest a 30 percent chance of rain, and Wednesday 90 percent chance of rain, and a possible thunderstorm. The same forecast applies for Thursday - 90 percent.
The plan is to open the cafe sometime this week, just when is a moot point.
Being alfresco on the banks of the Brisbane river does have some drawbacks.

New Year

A new year - and there's drizzling rain - the soft,and, hopefully this month we can discuss something more than just the weather.
We have plans to re-open the cafe on Tuesday - after two weeks of closure. Everyone is keen to get back to work - and doing something that we enjoy. The photo of the cafe (Cafe Deck on left) that graces this page is a testament to the skills of a great local photographer - Warren Stone. For those not familiar with the work of Warren and his wife Bernadette, click on the headline link - or there's a link in the column on the left. Warren has been a regular visitor to the cafe - and has taken some award winning shots of Colleges Crossing. There's always something to see and do in the park's 25 hectares. Warren did a stunning photo of one of our geese - its on his website. The park is blessed with a wide variety of bird life - many spend of lot of the day sitting watching our customers watching them. The birds will be missing the interaction - it would have been lonely in the park - and quite wet over the last couple of weeks. Even the area where the rosellas gather has been inundated for the first time in memory. It's been some flood. But as expected - we should see the end of it in the next couple of days. Fingers crossed.