His Holiness the Dalai Lama Prays for Australia Flood Victims [Tuesday, 11 January 2011, 12:42 p.m.]
His
Holiness the Dalai Lama has offered his prayers for an early end to the
massive flooding in Australia’s north-eastern state of Queensland.
 |
| The town of Chinchilla in Queensland, Australia is seen flooded Wednesday, 29 Dec. 2010. (AP Photo/Jono Searle, Pool) |
DHARAMSHALA: In
his condolence message to Queensland Premier Anna Bligh, His Holiness
said: “I was saddened by the unprecedented flood in your state which
has brought severe destruction and suffering to the property and
general public. But I admire the Australian government’s preparedness
in tackling the flood disaster in terms of its relief efforts.”
“I am praying for no further loss of lives of those affected by the
flood, speedy reconstruction of destroyed homes and an early end to the
disaster,” His Holiness said. The devastating flood
triggered by incessant rainfall around Christmas has inundated
thousands of homes, leaving 8 people dead and over 70 missing so far.
The Australian authorities fear for a dramatic rise in death toll as
rising waters and continuing heavy rain continues to hamper rescue
efforts. The raging flood waters has started moving towards the state capital Brisbane. The flooding of such destructive magnitude has never occurred in Queensland in the last many decades.
 |
| A street is covered by a flash flood in Toowoomba, Queensland 10 January 2011. Residents in Australia’s third largest city, Brisbane, sandbagged their homes against rising waters on Monday, as police warned people in smaller outlying towns to be ready to abandon homes as forecasters predicted more heavy rain/Reuters Photo |
