Gallery: Australia-flooding.

Deadly floodwaters that have cut a swath across Australia and forced people to flee suburbs and skyscrapers as rescuers searched for survivors.

Keith and I watched the news an hour or so a go. 

There is so much sadness, despair and sorrow… but from that comes the Aussie spirit. 

"Oh well, she'll be right mate" said one man waist deep in water as he surveys what is left of his house. "We'll just start again" he said with laconic smile. But the smile didn't hide the tears and his jaw quivered. To hide his sorrow, he lifted his hat, scrached his head and adjusted the cigarette butt in the corner of his mouth…

So typical of an "Aussie Bloke."  

Another man refused to let a group of horses die. They were holding on to the roof of a house and had terrible injuries where they had tried to scramble to safety.

He lassoed them and one by one led them to safety.

Another man guided his tugboat through the raging waters to push back a hugh metal walkway that threatened to smash into the pylons of the major bridge in the city. The bridge most certainly would have been damaged… but once again… the laconic smile of the tug boat captain…."It wasn't me, it was Nellie, she's old but the best we have" (his tug boat)

This terrifying event has been likened to other similar disasters throughout the world. But there is one difference. It's the response to loss. The camaraderie, the support and sheer determination to fix things.  There have been a few occasions of looting, but on the scale of things… it's been a minor occurrence and dealt with swiftly by the authorities.

I'm so proud of our Aussie Spirit.

Everyone I know is donating in their own way.   It's just the way it is.

Many who have lost everything are still out helping others to just get through…