Were occasional listers and members of the Queensland Healey Club
living in Brisbane, were in the flood affected area and sadly many
Queenslanders are badly affected by the floods.Weve just spent a few
days helping out with the volunteer army and the scale of peoples loss
is heartbreaking.Thankfully we only had about three feet of water
through our granny flat in the basement, and our family, friends and
pets are all safe and sound.On the scale of things around here our
misfortune is equivalent to the inconvenience of a mosquito bite so we
cant complain.Im sure youve seen footage on the tube and therell be
reams of print on the floods, but I thought Id share a couple of brief
Healey related stories illustrating the terrific community spirit
fostered by the floods.
We recently sold our much travelled BJ8 and bought a project BJ8 from
San Diego and a local barn find BN1 as retirement projects.As Murphys
Law always dictates the BJ8 arrived on the dock in Brisbane just as the
flood was approaching.With water lapping at our back fence I received a
call from the shipping agent advising that the car was ready for pick
up.I let the lady know that we werent in a good position to collect the
Healey and could she please store it for a week or so until the crisis
passed.She replied that their holding shed was near the Brisbane River
and as the water was rapidly rising perhaps it would be best to collect
the car.Now Big Healeys are tough cars but not wanting to see it
featured in the amphibious challenge on Australian Top gear I thought I
should get it out fast.A quick call to a local tilt tray operator and he
promised to do his best.To cut a long story short, he collected the car,
tried to get to our place but was blocked by floodwater so he took the
car to his own back yard shed (high and dry) to store until things
returned to normal (at no cost).I dont know the bloke from a bar of
soap but Im sure hes ridgy didge (the real deal in USA lingo).
As the water rose we decided we should evacuate our garage where our BN1
and all my tools, spare parts etc etc are stored.I rang a mate up the
street and asked for a hand.Within minutes, like the cavalry charging
over the hill, an army of 30 local residents descended on our garage.The
scene resembled a fast forward scene from one of those home reno shows
as in about twenty minutes flat they moved the entire contents of our
garage to higher ground.As I ran around like a headless chook trying to
give directions it all happened around me and all our possessions were
saved.
The last thing left in the garage was the BN1 and one young lad
commented cool car, wed better make sure it doesnt go under
Sort of restores your faith in human nature
Cheers from Down Under
Noel S
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