A flood of despair

This morning we took a few minutes out from putting SmartCompany together to watch an emotional Queensland Premier Anna Bligh hold a media conference to update her state on the flood situation in Toowoomba.

Already, the situation is awful – eight people are confirmed dead and more than 70 are still unaccounted for.

Choking back tears, Bligh warned that the death toll was likely to rise dramatically in Toowoomba as the floods head towards the outskirts of Brisbane. However, she also tried to present a brave face for the nation.

“This weather might be breaking our hearts but it will not break our will.”

A tragedy like this pushes our daily worries about house prices, economic data, and online retail debates into the background pretty quickly.

The scenes from Toowoomba are simply heart breaking and we hope everyone in the flood-affected areas – including some family members of the SmartCompany extended family – are able to stay safe.

Our hearts particularly go out to the entrepreneurs in the area. Running a business is challenging at the best of times, but being hit by a disaster like this – totally beyond their control – would just be unimaginable.

At lot of Toowoomba’s industry is based around the area’s agribusiness sector, although the town is home to a member of the Rich List – Clive Berghoffer owns extensive property holdings in the area, and was formally Toowoomba’s mayor.

No doubt he will be one of the leaders of the recovery effort in the weeks and months ahead. These businesses are going to need a lot of support from governments, industry groups and the public.

Over the next few days, Brisbane is bracing for its biggest floods since in the city since 1974.

We will continue to monitor the situation, but we hope everyone in the city stays safe.