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ALL DROWNED OUT 'Once in a lifetime', they said, 11 years ago and yet, here we were again in February. Flooded. Some were luckier than others but there was help on hand for those whose homes and businesses suffered more serious emotional and water damage.
C A SSIE T WEMLOW
Communications & Marketing Officer
T
he recent flooding of south-east Queensland left a lot of people, homes and businesses, including our St Peters community, displaced and devastated by its destruction. Declared one of Australia’s worst ever natural disasters, the ‘rain bomb’ dropped 80% of the region’s annual rainfall on Brisbane in just three days at the tail-end of February.
would coincide with the heavy rainfall so a lot of different places were flooding, than had historically done so. In the 2011 floods, much of Fig Tree Pocket was underwater but since then, they have had a backflow valve installed which reduces the chance of backflow flooding by preventing water from flowing back up stormwater drainage. This meant that there were minimal homes affected by flooding this year as opposed to the hundreds in 2011.
From desperate local drivers trying to escape flooded waters via the new pedestrian-only Indooroopilly Riverwalk, to complaints about “But I don’t want to underestimate the delayed wheelie bin collection, Brisbane City problem because, in parts of Indooroopilly Councillor, James Mackay, has heard, and there were entire homes’ contents on the seen, it all since Friday 25 February. footpath. It was heartbreaking,” James said quite emotionally. “Some of these families Local Councillor, and St Peters Old Scholar, also have small business that have had to James, has lived locally most of his life. deal with Covid for the last two years. Now Growing up, the worst ‘disaster’ (aside this. One guy said to me, ‘I can’t even see my from the 2011 floods) he can recall was shop’.” His business, along with others, was ankle-deep flooding of the UQ campus and underwater in Milton. Indooroopilly Canoe Club in the mid-90s. However, less than four months ago, James The weekend was certainly the worst time saw first-hand the affect the flooding had for the flooding however, the effects didn’t on residents in 4067, 4068 and 4069 where stop immediately. some of the flooding did its worst. On Thursday 3 March, when the rain had “On the Friday night when it started, I went subsided and some schools were back open, down to Munro St [St Lucia] and started door there were local students showing up to knocking and telling people, already standing class without food. James and his team were in water, to move their cars and get out,” stunned and immediately organised meals James told me. for the students as well as rallying parents to bring in spare uniforms for those that didn’t On Saturday morning, many roads in the area have access to them either. were closed and cars were getting towed to higher ground. By this time, residents in highEven so, there are always some wonderful rise riverside apartments were also trapped, if stories to come from the worst situations. they hadn’t managed to escape earlier. Once James talks about one St Lucia man he Sunday arrived, the weather pattern changed met that brought down a generator to from being just rain deluge to being river the Council barbeque so locally affected inundation and the levels started rising. people could charge their phones. He even James explains that SEQ Water released set up a DJ station for some much-needed the Wivenhoe barriers when the high tides entertainment and diversion. Later James
Plus Ultra | June 2022
