Bangkok not third world compared to Sydney

Something Blubberarse Billy tactfully forgot to mention was:


Two dead as wild weather heads to Sydney
Saturday Jun 9 10:19 AEST
Heavy seas pound the coastline under Waverly cemetery in Sydney. (AAP)

Torrential rain that has wreaked havoc on the NSW Hunter and Central Coast regions is expected to move south and lash Sydney later on Saturday.

Two people have died and there are grave fears for a family of five missing after a Central Coast road collapsed, sending their car crashing down an embankment and into a flooded creek.

The wild weather has forced Premier Morris Iemma to declare a natural disaster in the Hunter and Central Coast regions amid flooding, evacuations, strandings, blackouts, landslides, commuter and traffic chaos and thousands of calls to emergency services.

The Bureau of Meteorology warned the public not to be lulled into a false sense of security by an apparent easing of conditions on Saturday morning as winds were expected to crank up to gale force later.

"The low pressure system is slowly moving south so the good news is it's stopped absolutely pelting down in Newcastle and the Central Coast but now Sydney's getting the brunt of it, and it's also becoming heavier in the Illawarra," said bureau forecaster Julie Evans.

"The winds have dropped a little bit in some areas now but we are expecting another surge of winds up the coast this afternoon."

Ms Evans predicted rain falls of up to 100mm in Sydney on Saturday and slightly more in the Illawarra.

Torrential rain prevented rescuers from searching for the family of five missing after the road collapsed, sending their car crashing into a massive subsidence and into a flooded creek.

The family's sedan was found in the treacherous floodwaters 100 metres down the swollen creek near Gosford, but the occupants have not been found, police said.

The car went crashing down the embankment when part of the Old Pacific Highway near Somersby collapsed under it, creating a gorge many metres deep and 10 metres wide across the roadway.

Police say two adults and three children, aged two, three, and nine, are missing from the car, and heavy rain has prevented rescuers from searching for the family.

Meanwhile, the bodies of an elderly couple whose four-wheel-drive was swept off a bridge at Clarence Town, near Dungog, in the Hunter Valley, on Friday have been found.

Police say a man found the bodies on his property downstream from the bridge late on Friday night.

Mr Iemma declared the natural disaster on Friday night for the Hunter and Central Coast regions after severe storms over the past 24 hours caused widespread damage.

Mr Iemma said the declaration of a natural disaster area triggers a range of assistance for individual residents, business owners and councils whose properties have been damaged by the strong winds, rain and flooding.

"Importantly, the declaration of a natural disaster ensures councils are reimbursed for the cost of repairing public infrastructure, including local roads and bridges damaged by fast-flowing floodwaters and debris," Mr Iemma said in a statement.

The premier said he had also invoked the state employment protection provisions to cover emergency services volunteers who help those affected by the wild storms.

Mr Iemma said the State Emergency Service (SES) has received thousands of calls for assistance so far from people who have suffered damage across the Hunter, Mid North Coast, Central Coast and Sydney.

At least 200,000 people were without power overnight in areas from the Hunter Valley to Sydney.

The ACT State Emergency Service has said it will send a 21-person task force on Saturday to help NSW SES volunteers deal with storm and flood damage over the long weekend.

At least 200 people were evacuated in the Newcastle area overnight because of flash flooding.

Phil Campbell of the Hunter Region SES said the people were being taken to evacuation centres, with volunteers focusing on helping the most vulnerable.

Police said 500 pupils had to spend the night at St Peters College at Tuggerah after flood waters cut access to their school.

A landslide forced the closure of the Newcastle and Central Coast rail line between Hornsby and Gosford for about five hours from 6pm on Friday, stranding scores of commuters at Hornsby.

A RailCorp spokeswoman said the line reopened temporarily at about 11pm, until a large tree fell across the tracks and closed the line again.

There were still reports early on Saturday morning of commuters being stranded.

In Sydney, ferry and JetCat services to and from Manly have been suspended for a second day on Saturday due to unsafe conditions on the harbour.

A severe weather warning issued by the Bureau of Meteorology remains current for people in the Central Tablelands, Hunter, Illawarra, Sydney metropolitan and South Coast regions.

The damaging winds, flash flooding, and wild surf with waves exceeding five metres that started on Thursday night are forecast to continue on Saturday as the deep low-pressure system off Newcastle moves slowly westwards.

Falls of over 150mm were reported on Friday in the Hunter with widespread flash flooding.

Winds on Saturday are expected to average over 65 km/h with peak wind gusts to exceed 90 km/h in the Hunter, Sydney metropolitan and Illawarra, particularly near the coast.

Anyone who still thinks Thailand is third world compared to Sydney Australia is far wrong.
I drove on every road there and they were great,compare this to Sydneys potholed roads.
I realize you are perhaps hyperbolizing to make a point, but have you ever been in Pattaya after a tropical rainshower? Pot holes blossom like desert flowers, even on the brand new pavement of the recently widened sections of Sukhumvit.

Even Hong-Kong is a third world city compared to Bangkok or anywhere else in Thailand for that matter. I have been sitting here with three giant fallen trees across my road since Friday and I still cannot get outta here Monday morning. After thirty phone calls over the weekend in which no one seemed to understand any English at all, and missing my flight, I have been informed this morning that the trees are not a highway maintenance job and not considered an emergency. Not only this but they failed to warn us that a typhoon was even approaching, preferring steady showers instead, so everyone was dangerously unprepared when it struck Saturday.

Thailand does not pretend to be what it is not, so you can expect certain problems perhaps by being Westerners, but in a place like Hong kong they like to think they are first world but in fact they are not, so you are always taken for a ride. Sydney I always found to be quite first worldy, except the food of course, which if it is not foreign cooked owned and served is rather disgusting, especially in the tourist areas, that is, the whole of Sydney. The food is decidedly old world crap, served on plastic plates with drinks in styrofoam and throw away forks, for all the world nothing like the continental European cafes they are all so busily pretending to emulate. Their roads seemed normal but dingy compared to Thailand's ones. Most major routes are just two lanes, like you get leaving the airport at Kinshasa, they also drive dangerously slow, managing to kill each other off at every oppertunity.

[Aunty]

Even Hong-Kong is a third world city compared to Bangkok or anywhere else in Thailand for that matter.

All of China is third world country, Cedric, full of nuevo riche pretensions and delusions of grandeur. Much like some of the men who post to this board.

[Smiles]

" ... I realize you are perhaps hyperbolizing to make a point ... "
That, Bkkgwm, is an extraordinarily generous position to take with the Board mascot. I'd be careful throwing these thoughts about, as giving our Troll even a skerrick of intellectual credibility might be very very dangerous, and could be the end of the Board as we know it.

Cheers ...

These are the forks you keep,my drawer has plenty of them,dont throw them away,recycle them.

This makes my day and I believe you. Yeeha! Do you have those mini bottles of tomato sauce and mustard from in-flight meals, and sachets of brown sugar thrown in by the handful from Starfucks, I only use their sugar never the coffee, it really is the worlds worst.

Starfucks, I only use their sugar never the coffee, it really is the worlds worst.How can you say that?! Don't they claim to be promoters of Fair Trade which by definition is supposed to make you Feel Good if not Morally Superior

Starfucks, I only use their sugar never the coffee, it really is the worlds worst.How can you say that?! Don't they claim to be promoters of Fair Trade which by definition is supposed to make you Feel Good if not Morally Superior

Starfucks???? Promoters of fair trade???? Don't force me into projectile vomiting, its too early in the morning, I haven't even had my croissant and organic whole Scottish strawberry jam with a cup of free range Guatemala yet, all you're going to get is a dry wretch with the odd shrivelled fruit from last nights dryish lychee martini.

STARFUCKS is as the name suggests. I couldn't even be bothered to go into it, just look into my eyes, look into my eyes and believe, at least until I have more energy, after breakfast maybe.

Starfucks???? Promoters of fair trade???? That's what they claim, dear boy - http://www.starbucks.com/aboutus/origins.asp