Australia Floods

The Situation:

Flash flooding on January 10th, overwhelmed the Australian city of Toowoomba, where rushing waters killed 16 people in a town that is home to about 130,000 on Jan. 11. The disaster in Toowoomba, about 60 miles (95 kilometers) west of Brisbane, the state capital, is the latest in Australia flooding that has killed 20 people and affected more than 200,000 in the state of Queensland since December.

These intense floods were caused by a massive monsoon due to this year's unusually strong La Niña. La Niña is a cooling in the central and eastern tropical Pacific Ocean which create stronger than normal trade winds that push warm water from the tropics into the western Pacific. The waters around Australia are now the warmest ever measured. As this warm ocean water evaporates, moisture fills the atmosphere and fuels intense storms.

ELCA Response:

The ELCA has already extended solidarity and prayers to the leadership of the Lutheran Church of Australia (LCA). Rev Noel Noack, president of the Queensland District of LCA, expressed gratitude to God that the district offices have been spared major damage from the Brisbane flooding. Floodwaters almost completely filled the building’s ground-floor car park but stayed shy of entering the first-floor church.

The LCA is responding to the urgent needs of those in Queensland by offering meals, beds and evacuation shelter to families in need to shelter: click here to watch a video on the situation and their response. The LCA has an appeal open to receive contributions to emergency and ongoing efforts to respond to this disaster, and has already been receiving significant contributions from members within Australia.

What you can do:

Pray:

Engage in prayer with Christians around the world for the Peace of Christ to be realized to those in the midst of flooding in Australia. For flooding related prayer petitions, check out this link from the ELCA Worship page.

Study and Share:

Along with the secular media, please check back here and with the following organizations for updates.

Give:

Gifts to ELCA International Disaster Response help us to provide immediate and effective support to communities which are in need. Please consider giving to support the needs of this response and others like it. Information on giving is provided in the box on the right “How You Can Help.” To direct gifts to efforts of the Lutheran Church in Australia responding to the Australian Floods, please write “Australian Floods” in the memo line of your check. Thank you for your prayerful consideration.

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^{Photo Credits: (top right) ELCA/Communications 1/2011
(middle left) Lutheran Church in Australia, 1/2011}