Angler reels in ‘freaking scary’ fish in Texas marsh, photos show. It’s a rare beast

Mitchell Willetts
Wed, May 18, 2022,

An angler recently reeled in a rare and “freaking scary” fish after casting his hook into a murky Texas marsh, photos show.

The scaly creature’s striking look, jet black from tail to toothy tip, took the fisherman and his guide by surprise, according to a post by Lotus Guide Service.

“Well … (we) found out melanistic gar do exist,” said the May 16 post, sharing photos of the fish whipping and thrashing against the fishing line.

Lotus Guide Service wouldn’t say exactly where the fish was caught, but said it was in a southeast Texas marsh.

Long-established residents of Texas waterways, the prehistoric and prized alligator gar is typically brown or olive in color. But seemingly every inch of the one recently hooked in the “southeast Texas marsh” is dark black, save for the impressive teeth and pale gullet revealed by its open jaws.

Though harmless to humans, alligator gar are fierce enough in appearance and in name to inspire fearful myths about them — and this strange variation is particularly stirring to some, even those familiar with the fish.

“Freaking scary,” one commenter said. “Caught alligator gar growing up in Louisiana … put up a hell of a fight.”

“I like this, looks hella mean,” another said.

“Them thangs look deadly,” another read.

Melanism, a genetic anomaly that causes darker fur, hair, skin or scales, is known to occur across the animal kingdom, though it is exceptionally rare, McClatchy News reported.

How rare is melanism? Rare enough that experts generally lack enough data to offer exact figures. But there are reports of other gars with the condition having been caught or killed in the U.S.

While the black alligator gar has some locals vowing to keep their toes out of the water for the foreseeable future, others were simply impressed.

“Man that’s gorgeous,” a commenter said.

Some were so impressed that, had they been the one to catch the gar, they said they’d have it mounted in their man cave or trophy room for all to see.

The gar is safe from that fate, at least for now.

The angler let the fish go after catching it, Lotus Guide Service said, with the photos as the only trophies taken.

Spain issues nationwide alert over possible monkeypox outbreak


Spain issued a nationwide alert over a possible monkeypox outbreak Wednesday, after 23 people have shown symptoms.

 Photo courtesy of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

May 18 (UPI) -- Health officials in Spain issued a nationwide alert Wednesday, warning about a possible outbreak of monkeypox, after 23 people showed symptoms of the virus detected in Britain and Portugal.

The new cases in the Madrid region are being analyzed by Spain's National Microbiology Center and are not confirmed. The health ministry said the nationwide alert was issued "to guarantee a swift, coordinated and timely response."

While it is unlikely monkeypox would spread significantly, it "can't be ruled out," according to Fernando Simon, an epidemiologist in charge of Spain's health emergencies center.

In Portugal, five cases have been confirmed and health authorities are investigating another 15 suspected cases. Seven cases have been confirmed in Britain since May 4.

RELATED Maryland health officials confirm case of monkeypox in traveler

Early symptoms of monkeypox can include fever, headache, fatigue and chills, with a facial rash and lesions that develop days later and spread to other parts of the body, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

While there is no cure for monkeypox, most people recover from the virus within a few weeks. Monkeypox is more prevalent in Africa, where one in 10 people die after contracting the virus.

"Generally speaking, monkeypox is spread by respiratory transmission, but the characteristics of the 23 suspected cases point towards transmission through mucus during sexual relations," Madrid's health department said in a statement.

RELATED CDC, Texas health officials confirm case of monkeypox in Dallas

"Eight suspected cases in Madrid are among men who have sex with men. They are doing well and are isolating at home, but a close eye is being kept on them in case they need hospital treatment," department officials said.

Monkeypox can also be transmitted from animals to humans through bites, scratches and direct contact through body fluids or lesions, according to the CDC.

Rare monkeypox outbreaks detected in N America, Europe

Updated / Thursday, 19 May 2022 

The monkeypox virus has been reported in the US and Canada, as well as Eutrope

Health authorities in North America and Europe have detected dozens of suspected or confirmed cases of monkeypox since early May, sparking concern the disease endemic in parts of Africa is spreading.

Canada was the latest country to report it was investigating more than a dozen suspected cases of monkeypox, after Spain and Portugal detected more than 40 possible and verified cases.

Britain has confirmed nine cases since 6 May and the United States verified its first yesterday.

The US health authorities said a man in the eastern state of Massachusetts had tested positive for the virus after visiting Canada.

The illness, from which most people recover within several weeks and has only been fatal in rare cases, has infected thousands of people in parts of Central and Western Africa in recent years but is rare in Europe and North Africa.


The World Health Organization said on Tuesday it was coordinating with UK and European health officials over the new outbreaks.


A handout image issued by the UK Health Security Agency of the stages of monkeypox

Speaking this morning on RTÉ's Today with Claire Byrne, WHO infectious disease epidemiologist Dr Maria Van Kerkhove said they are concerned about the virus and stated there needs to be a greater focus on understanding transmission patterns.

She said "very little attention" has been paid to monkeypox as it is not something that is perceived as a global risk, but that the WHO considers it to be a "priority pathogen".

Ms Van Kerkhove appealed to countries globally "to be ready" to be able to detect cases of monkeypox and offer appropriate care to prevent any onward spread.

She said they are concerned about the spread to non-endemic areas who do not have the virus "on their radar" after a number of cases were reported in European countries and the US without travel links.

"So we are trying to expand our understanding of the circulation of this virus which typically is transmitted between people through contact, physical contact with lesions, with open sores.

"And so we are working with a number of countries to identify who is infected and of course to prevent onward transmission and they receive the appropriate care," she said.

The first case in Britain was someone who had traveled from Nigeria, though later cases were possibly through community transmission, the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) said in a statement.

"These latest cases, together with reports of cases in countries across Europe, confirms our initial concerns that there could be spread of monkeypox within our communities," said UKHSA Chief Medical Adviser Dr Susan Hopkins.

The WHO said it was also investigating that many cases reported were people identifying as gay, bisexual or men who have sex with men.

"We are seeing transmission among men having sex with men," said WHO Assistant Director-General Dr Soce Fall at a press conference earlier this week.

"This is new information we need to investigate properly to understand better the dynamic of local transmission in the UK and some other countries."

'No risk to the public'

The UKHSA noted that monkeypox has not previously been characterised as a sexually transmitted disease, underscoring that "it can be passed on by direct contact during sex".

"Anyone, regardless of sexual orientation, can spread monkeypox through contact with body fluids, monkeypox sores, or shared items (such as clothing and bedding) that have been contaminated with fluids or sores of a person with monkeypox," a US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) statement said, adding that household disinfectants can kill the virus on surfaces.

The illness often starts with flu-like symptoms such as fever, muscle ache and swollen lymph nodes before causing a chickenpox-like rash on the face and body, the US agency explained.

The Massachusetts Department of Health, said that the case there - the first confirmed this year in the US - occurred in a patient who had recently travelled to Canada and "poses no risk to the public, and the individual is hospitalised and in good condition".

Health authorities in Canada's Quebec province announced they were investigating at least 13 suspected cases of monkeypox, the public broadcaster CBC reported yesterday.

The cases were flagged to Montreal authorities after diagnoses were made in several clinics specialising in sexually transmitted and blood-borne infections.

The Public Health Agency of Canada (PHAC) told CBC it had called on "public health authorities and laboratory partners across Canada to be alert for and investigate any potential cases".

According to the CDC, there were no reported cases of monkeypox for 40 years before it re-emerged in Nigeria in 2017.

JOHN BIRCH SOCIETY ANTI VAX POSTER 1953

SEE 

https://plawiuk.blogspot.com/2022/05/what-is-monkeypox-and-should-uk.html

https://plawiuk.blogspot.com/2021/07/first-human-death-due-to-monkey-b-virus.html

Hamas students celebrate West Bank university poll win

• AFP
•  May 19, 2022

Students who support Hamas wave flags ahead of council elections at Birzeit University

Ramallah – Hamas supporters celebrated Thursday a landslide student election win at a top West Bank university, results experts said further points to the Islamists’ growing support in the occupied Palestinian territory.

Hamas’s Al Wafaa’ Islamic bloc won 28 of the 51 seats on the student council at Birzeit University, marking the first time Islamist-aligned candidates have gained control of the body.

The bloc aligned with Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas’s secular Fatah movement won just 18 seats.

The general Palestinian population has not been to the polls since 2006.

Abbas scrapped elections scheduled for last year citing Israel’s refusal to allow voting in Israeli-annexed east Jerusalem, which Palestinians claim as their capital.

But Palestinian analysts said Abbas baulked out of fear that Hamas, which controls the Gaza Strip, would also trounce Fatah across the West Bank.

Birzeit’s vice president, Ghassan al-Khatib, said some saw the campus vote as “a test for measuring public opinion”, with no general elections on the horizon.

Hugh Lovatt, senior policy fellow at the European Council on Foreign Relations, said the Birzeit polls were perceived as a type of bellwether because the make-up of the student body was “seen as more representative of Palestinian society”.

“The fact that you have a democratic mechanism and the voter pool is seen to be representative of Palestinian dynamics — that’s why it matters,” he told AFP.

Fatah used to dominate student councils in the West Bank.

Hamas praised the results as “a rejection of the normalisation” and “security coordination,” in a reference to the Fatah-led Palestinian Authority’s ties with Israel.

Dr Fathi Hammad, a member of the group’s political bureau, said “the student movement has proven that (the youth) is the fuel to the revolution.

1.5 tonnes of elephant ivory seized in southeast DR Congo

SELL IT CHEAP CRASH THE MARKET


AFP - 

Authorities in southeastern DR Congo have seized one and a half tonnes of elephant ivory, legal and environmental officials said, in one of the largest hauls in Africa in years.

Officers discovered the smuggled tusks aboard trucks in the city of Lubumbashi on Saturday, according to a legal official who declined to be named due involvement in an ongoing investigation into the affair.


Police arrested five people but two fled after questioning, the official said. He added that the haul amounted to 1.5 tonnes.

Both the origin and intended final destination of the ivory remain unclear.

Sabin Mande, a lawyer for a coalition of environmental groups, told AFP that he had seen 18 bags of seized ivory in the state prosecutor's office in Lubumbashi on Wednesday.

The contraband represents 80 to 100 slaughtered elephants, he said.

The seizure marks one of the largest in Africa in years. In 2013, Kenyan officials made several seizures including one of four tonnes. Togolese authorities likewise seized four tonnes of ivory over the course of one week in 2014.

In 2019, Vietnamese officials discovered over nine tonnes of elephant ivory in a shipment carrying timber from the Republic of Congo, also known as Congo-Brazzaville, in the largest recent haul worldwide.

China and Southeast Asia are major markets for African ivory, which is mainly used for purported cures in traditional medicine.

lk/at/eml/ri

Green ministers outshine Scholz as stars of German government
 

Olaf Scholz
German politician and 9th Federal Chancellor of Germany

 

Annalena Baerbock
German politician and minister of foreign affairs

Economy Minister Robert Habeck has impressed with his dedication to weaning Germany off Russian energy (AFP/Tobias SCHWARZ)

Mathieu FOULKES
Wed, May 18, 2022

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz has seen his popularity slide over his cautious stance on the war in Ukraine, eclipsed by two ministers from the Green party who have taken a more decisive approach.

Scholz, whose Social Democrats (SPD) are in power with the Greens and the liberal FDP, has faced a barrage of criticism over his perceived weak response to the war, including his hesitancy over sending heavy weapons to Ukraine.

Meanwhile, Green party Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock and Economy Minister Robert Habeck have impressed with their more vocal approach, topping a recent survey of the country's most popular politicians.

Scholz sought to redress the balance with a speech to the Bundestag parliament on Thursday.

"(Russian President Vladimir) Putin still believes that he can forge peace by dictatorship, but he is wrong -- just as he was wrong about Ukraine's determination and the unity of our alliances," he said.

Scholz also tried to shake off accusations that he is dragging his feet in dealing with Moscow over fears of escalating the crisis.

"I want to say clearly that helping a brutally attacked country to defend itself is not an escalation but a contribution to repelling an attack and thereby ending the violence as quickly as possible," he told parliament.

But the chancellor has his work cut out to turn around public opinion.

- Sitting tight -

In a nod to just how badly this reticent stance has played with the public, the SPD suffered a crushing defeat in a key regional election at the weekend -- losing to the conservative CDU with its worst-ever result in Germany's most populous state of North Rhine-Westphalia.

The Greens, meanwhile, almost tripled their score compared with five years ago to finish in third place and look almost certain to be part of the next regional government.

Der Spiegel magazine called the result a "personal defeat" for Scholz after he was heavily involved in the election campaign, appearing on posters and at rallies.

In a bid to win back the public, Scholz has in recent days given lengthy television interviews.

But in a devastating reading of his performance on screen, the weekly Focus said "his language is poor, his facial expressions monotone and his body language too understated."

According to Der Spiegel, the chancellor's communications strategy seems to revolve around one mantra: "Repeat, repeat, repeat."

Other media have accused him of stubbornly sticking to the same plan and ignoring what is going on around him.

"His party is plummeting, but the chancellor feels that he has done everything right... Doubts and questions rain down on him, but Olaf simply sits tight," said Der Spiegel.

- 'Strong moral underpinning' -

Scholz's spokesman Steffen Hebestreit has defended the chancellor, suggesting that the public value his calm demeanour and would find it "inauthentic" if he tried to turn himself into Barack Obama.

But for political scientist Ursula Muench, Scholz does not come across as calm and measured but rather "imprecise" compared with his colleagues from the Green party.

Baerbock, meanwhile, has turned around her public image after a series of blunders during the 2021 election campaign, coming across as clearer and more decisive than Scholz in her response to the Ukraine crisis.

The 41-year-old former trampolinist has become the face of Germany at international summits, from the G7 to NATO, and in early May became the first German minister to visit Kyiv.

Habeck, meanwhile, has impressed with his dedication to weaning Germany off Russian energy.

For the first time in their 42-year history, according to Der Spiegel, the Greens are being judged not on "expectations and promises" but on their performance in government.

"The strong moral underpinning of the Greens' policies and the fact they openly struggle with their own principles comes across as approachable and therefore very credible," according to Muench.

"Of course, this increases their clout compared with the chancellor."

She therefore predicts an "increase in tensions" between the Greens, the SPD and the FDP, with life not expected to get easier for Scholz any time soon.

mat-fec/hmn/spm

Chinese chess checks in with hushed SEA Games debut

Thailand's Radtai Lokutarapol plans a move in xiangqi at the SEA Games 

(AFP/Nhac NGUYEN) 

Patrick LEE
Thu, May 19, 2022, 

When Sim Yip How first came across xiangqi as a little boy he looked on mesmerised as grandmasters puzzled over the ancient Chinese game.

The 38-year-old Malaysian is now an SEA Games silver medallist in a pastime which, according to players at the regional competition, is growing in popularity.

Also known as Chinese chess, xiangqi is a two-player board game dating back thousands of years but it is making its debut at the SEA Games in Vietnam.

Hailing from the city of Kuching in eastern Malaysia's Sarawak state, Sim said he picked up the game at the age of seven after watching masters battle each other in matches.

"All the best players came from Kuching and at my father's coffee shop the Sarawak champions came and played," he told AFP at the SEA Games, where players silently peered at pieces over thick fabric boards.

"I idolised them when I saw them. I saw international grandmasters and I was like 'Wow, I want to be like them one day.'"

Its fans say that xiangqi is more complex than its Western counterpart.

While chess is played on an eight-by-eight grid, xiangqi's board is nine lines wide and 10 long, with pieces moved on the lines' 90 possible intersections.

It also makes use of terrain with a valley in the middle where certain units cannot cross, and a safe zone where a side's general, the critical piece, cannot leave.

Games last anything from 10-15 minutes in a "blitz" version to up to five hours.

Xiangqi's four medal events were possibly the quietest at the regional games, with almost no spectators at the hillside resort a three-hour drive outside Hanoi, aside from a few volunteers watching.

Despite a muted physical presence, Sim said the matches were viewed intently online and in Malaysia, where there are "thousands" of enthusiasts.

Originally limited to parts of East Asia, xiangqi today enjoys a growing global status, those at the Games say.

A biennial world championship has been played since 1991 and it made its Asian Games debut in 2010 in China.

In SEA Games host Vietnam, the country’s shared border and long history with China has made the game wildly prolific here, game arbiter Quach Phuong Minh said.

"Each province, each city (in Vietnam) has events for children," the 34-year-old, who started playing when he was just six, told AFP.

With the game set to return at the SEA Games next year in Cambodia, Minh predicts more pick-up "in just a few years".

"It’s not only for old people," he added.

pl/pst

Cyprus police arrest one after protesting farmers set hay ablaze

Cypriot goat and sheep farmers face a squeeze driven on one side by higher input costs and on the other side by halloumi producers opting largely in favour of cheap cow milk (AFP/Amir MAKAR) (Amir MAKAR)

Thu, May 19, 2022,

Cyprus police said Thursday they had arrested one man a day after farmers set hay bales ablaze outside the presidential palace to protest against high input prices and a milk glut.

The goat and sheep farmers also emptied milk churns at the gates of the palace and police say they have issued arrest warrants for two other people who took part in the 300-strong demonstration.

The farmers face a unique squeeze driven in part by the war in Ukraine, which has propelled the cost of wheat and fuel higher, making it more expensive to feed and transport their animals.

On top of that, farmers have been unable to sell all their sheep and goat milk because, they complain, producers of the Mediterranean island's renowned halloumi cheese are opting largely in favour of cow milk, a cheaper alternative.

Halloumi exports earned Cyprus 266.5 million euros ($279 million) in 2020 and last year won Protected Designation of Origin (PDO) status from the European Union, giving the country a monopoly on producing halloumi branded cheese.

The PDO status is also meant to ensure minimum quotas for the use of goat and sheep milk in the production process, but the farmers accuse halloumi makers of flouting that.

Police spokesperson Christos Andreou told state broadcaster CyBC that video footage of Wednesday's protest was being reviewed and suspects face charges of reckless behaviour and conspiracy to commit a crime.

The one man arrested so far is 42 and has been charged in writing and released to appear in court at a later date.

Agriculture Minister Costas Kadis said goat and sheep farmers' anger was "justified" and pledged more financial support.

cc/dwo

French hospitals fail to attract nurses and doctors

In France, some hospitals are shutting down temporarily their ermergency units because of personnel shortages.

AUSTRALIAN ELECTION

Climate fight rages in rich Australian suburbs


AFP - 

In a land struck by ferocious bushfires and floods, Australian voters frustrated by climate inaction are flocking to a band of right-leaning green-minded independents, threatening to flip a string of conservative strongholds from blue to "teal".

More than 20 candidates -- highly qualified, well financed and mostly women -- are barnstorming some of Australia's wealthiest suburbs ahead of Saturday's election, aiming to snatch parliamentary seats held by ruling conservatives for generations.


© William WEST

More than 17 million voters are registered for the May 21 polls

Polls indicate these "teal" independents -- somewhere between conservative blue and environmental green on the political spectrum -- could not just win seats, but hold the balance of power in a hung parliament.

Among the districts up for grabs are those previously held by four conservative Liberal Party prime ministers and the district of current Treasurer Josh Frydenberg, who is seen as a possible future party leader and prime minister.

More than 17 million voters are registered for the May 21 polls, which will choose all 151 seats in the lower chamber and 40 of the 76 seats in the Senate.

The independents are sticking a dagger into the conservatives' exposed flank on the climate and other major concerns such as corruption and the treatment of women in government.

Australia's 2019-2020 "Black Summer" bushfires and subsequent east coast floods highlighted the deadly and catastrophic consequences of climate change.

But Morrison's Liberal-National coalition backs coal mining and burning into the distant future, and has resisted calls to cut carbon emissions from 2005 levels faster than its current commitment of up to 28 percent by 2030.

The government has also failed to deliver a promised federal anti-corruption watchdog.

Analysts say the climate is a national concern but is more likely to sway votes in leafy suburban seats where people feel no threat from a cut to mining jobs.

Some conservative voters feel they have been "left in the wilderness" by the Liberal Party's drift to the right, said Zoe Daniel, a former ABC journalist turned independent who is now a front-runner in the polls in the wealthy Melbourne seat of Goldstein.

- 'Powerful influences' -

A YouGov poll published May 11 put Daniel slightly ahead of the incumbent Liberal Party member for Goldstein, Tim Wilson.

The "umbrella issue" for voters is integrity, Daniel told AFP, not just the need for a federal anti-corruption watchdog but also transparency in spending taxpayers' money and political donations.

That spills over into other issues such as the climate, said Daniel, who supports a 60-percent cut in carbon emissions by 2030, far more than the government or opposition Labor Party.

"I think the penny has started to drop for people that there are powerful influences in the background and that's why our climate policy looks the way it does," she said.

It is no secret that the Liberal Party has close links to the mining industry, said Paul Williams, associate professor at Griffith University. "And the mining industry is Australia's most powerful lobby group."

Labor, which relies on support from unions including those representing mine workers, has proposed a 43-percent cut in carbon pollution by 2030.

Monique Ryan, another independent favouring climate action and clean politics, led treasurer Frydenberg in the Melbourne seat of Kooyong, the survey indicated.

Once a safe Liberal Party seat, Kooyong is also the former constituency of Australia's longest-serving prime minister, the late Robert Menzies.

- Close fight -

Allegra Spender, another "teal" independent candidate in Wentworth -- a rich beachside Sydney suburb that includes Bondi Beach -- is also in a close fight, surveys indicate, with moderate Liberal Party member Dave Sharma.

Spender, like Ryan and Daniel, is among 22 independents who have secured campaign financing from Climate 200, a fund set up by activist-philanthropist Simon Holmes a Court.

In the case of a hung parliament, just a few independents could wield some influence on national policy.

Independent candidates have already helped to elevate issues such as the climate and integrity, said Daniel.

"Independents have changed the national conversation because they are able to raise hard issues that won't necessarily be popular."

djw/arb/axn

Flood-ravaged Australians feel forgotten as election looms





Ron Maher lost a third of his cattle as floodwaters swept through his property (AFP/Patrick HAMILTON)

Maddison Connaughton
Thu, May 19, 2022

For Karey Patterson, the lingering memory of the February floods that devastated Australia's east coast was wondering how long he could hold his daughter's head above water as the torrent consumed their home.

"It was like a disaster movie, but I was in it," he told AFP, standing in the still-gutted shell of his house in the town of Lismore.

In the aftermath of the floods, the worst the city had ever seen, there was a flurry of news coverage, visits from the prime minister and opposition leader, and promises of help.

Three months on, the floodwater has mostly receded and with it public attention.

On the eve of Saturday's election, the fact that more than 1,500 citizens in one of the world's richest nations are still in emergency accommodation barely gets a mention in the campaign.

Many others have slipped through the statistics, sleeping on friends' couches, staying in caravans, or camping in their flood-wrecked homes.

"I think we have been forgotten," said Bec Barker, who has been living with her husband in a small caravan in the backyard of the home they spent more than a decade renovating.

"I don't think people realise that we don't have houses to come back to, we don't have furniture, we don't have anything."

Battling her insurer and ineligible for grants, Barker cannot picture herself living again in the home she thought she would grow old in.

While many flood victims feel forgotten, some also worry climate change's low billing on the campaign trail will guarantee more Australians are hit by increasingly extreme droughts, fires and floods.

Barker wants to see better government preparedness before new disasters strike -- so neighbours are not left to rescue one another in the dead of night.

"This can happen to anyone, really. I don't live in a high flood zone area," she said.

"It happened to us."

- A town abandoned -

By night, Lismore's once-bustling centre is now nearly pitch black as thousands of homes and businesses stand empty.

Daylight reveals a city where recovery has stalled.

Condemned houses swept from their foundations by the floodwaters wait to be demolished. Trees are still littered with plastic, chairs and family photos.

Locals line up for basic necessities from charities such as the one run by "The Koori Mail", Australia's national Indigenous newspaper.

Much of the nearby university, Southern Cross, has been given over to the recovery effort -- three schools have moved in, as have displaced businesses, doctors and the local police.

For months, many locals have been "in limbo", Lismore resident Rahima Jackson said, waiting for the council to decide about new flood regulations or a land swap deal allowing people to move to higher ground -- which could take years.

"The community here is definitely angry because every response has been too slow," she said.

As the February flood drowned Jackson's house, something sparked a fire and she watched on from a neighbour's window as it burned in the middle of an inland sea.

She has been hoping to buy a caravan to live in, behind her ruined home with its charred roof crumpled like a piece of paper.

For the community, she said, the stress is starting to take a toll: "I know most people have panic attacks at the sound of rain."

So far, the state government has paid out less than a fifth of the 38,037 applications for grant assistance it received from individuals and businesses.

Like many people affected by the floods, Ron Maher, 77, has found himself ineligible for any government grants -- because his pension, not his farm, has been his primary source of income.

"I'm not bitter about it. Disappointed is a better word than bitter," he said.

Maher, who lost a third of his cattle as floodwaters swept through his rural property north of Lismore, told AFP he was worried for the town's future.

"I don't know whether I'm talking out of school here, but I'm a bit afraid that north and south Lismore will turn into a bit of a shantytown because they can't afford to build," he said.

Insurance is another stumbling block.

By 2030, half a million homes across Australia will be uninsurable, too vulnerable to floods, bushfires, tides or high winds, according to the Climate Council.

Many Lismore residents could not afford flood insurance, even before the latest disaster.

- 'Our community underwater' -

Marine scientist Hanabeth Luke has decided to run for office to help put things right.

She survived the 2002 Bali bombings in Indonesia, and became known as "the Angel of Bali" after being photographed carrying a young man from the wreckage of the Sari Club.

She said the floods were an "echo" of that tragedy, which killed her first love.

She is running as an independent on a climate-focused platform.

"This is our home. This is the place that we love. This is our community underwater," she said.

"We've got to look at best evidence. We've got to trust what the science is telling us. And that is that we must act now on climate."

Despite the 14-metre (46-foot) surge, Karey Patterson, his eight-year-old daughter and two sons survived.

He eventually managed to smash a hole through the hardwood ceiling with a barbell before the water got to the roof.

A friend paddled a kayak through surging floodwaters for hours to deliver each of them to safety.

For now, Patterson sleeps on his friend's sofa, unsure about what comes next. One thing he is sure of is that, for sanity's sake, he cannot return.

"I'm not coming back to live in this house."

mmc/arb/djw/qan/je