So...floods. We had a massive storm cell over us that dumped a stupid amount of water on southeast Queensland. The photo above only shows the river at mid-height in my area of Brisbane, but I used this one for reference. The black boardwalk railing went under and the lawn in the top right corner got swamped too. You could just see the tops of the hedges. I believe the river rose 3.4 metres.
Lives were lost along with homes, businesses and property. I watched boats sink as huge amounts of debris rushed down the swollen river. The basement of my apartment building flooded. Luckily everyone got their cars to higher ground in time. But the lifts have stopped due to the sheer amount of water that's trapped in the lift wells. They won't be working for a couple days more. Consequently, I'm a little stuck. I ain't walking down sixteen flights. Actually, down isn't so bad, but coming back up might kill me. The terrible thing is, I'm running out of chocolate! Whatever shall I do?
I'm fortunate that I'm able to joke while safe at home. There are so many who haven't been so lucky. My thoughts and prayers go out to them.
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The IWSG question of the month: Have you ever been conflicted about writing a story or adding a scene to a story? How did you decide to write it or not?
Being conflicted is part of the story writing process. Will I send my characters into scary territory? Should I follow this theme or that? One time I needed to kill off a side character. I really didn't want to. He was interesting and fun to write. I spent days--no, weeks--stressing over it. Ultimately I did kill him, because it was integral to the main character's arc and the story demanded it. What can I do? I'm a slave to the story.
How about you? Ever have to face this problem? Have you experienced flooding where you live? Or some other national emergency?