What Queensland could become post floods

My previous blog post on the rare opportunity presented by the floods in Queensland made reference to the development of cities such as Chicago or San Francisco.

The author was fortunate enough to visit both US cities. Below is a panoramic photo of downtown Chicago, a great example of what community will power to rebuild and succeed can lead to. Lets hope Queensland, specifically Brisbane, can some day achieve such feats.

Queensland floods: opportunity as opposed to disaster?

Adversity breeds opportunity.

Many cities became great cities because of adversity. Two such cities come to mind; Chicago and San Francisco.

In 1906, San Francisco suffered an earthquake and combined with the resultant fires (from the earthquakes). This natural disaster caused the greatest loss of life in Californian history, with other 3,000 deaths with an economic impact comparable to that of Hurricane Katrina. One commentator described the tragic event as follows:

Not in history has a modern imperial city been so completely destroyed. San Francisco is gone.

In 1871, a fire burned through the entire Chicago central business district causing widespread destruction from October 8 to October 10. The fact that only a handful of buildings survived the fire is symbolic of the degree of devastation that engulfed the city.

Both Chicago and San Francisco regrouped and rebuilt themselves promptly into better and more modern cities.  In fact, the rebuilding in Chicago almost immediately spurred Chicago's development into one of the most populous and economically important American cities. 

Thus the Queensland floods, while tragic, could be a great opportunity to create a better and more attractive State. What is needed is community spirit and the vision to take Queensland to greater places in the new decade.