AS THE clean-up continues in flood affected areas around the Ipswich region, Jim Trevethan and his friend Karen recall how the continuing rain on Friday, February 25, made them start thinking that the area might experience some flooding.
Jim lives in Rosewood and he thought that maybe he would see a small amount of flooding with no great danger to people’s homes, the roads or the local bridges.
“But once the rain started it just did not stop.
“The water in my yard just got deeper and deeper and before I knew it, it was at least 20cm high and the underneath of my house was inundated with water.
“Luckily enough, I have friends who live close by who quickly came to my house to help me move all of my belongings from underneath my house to safer ground.
“Once we ensured everything was safe, we went to the local pub for dinner. It was full of people talking about the rainfall and about how roads were closed and some families where stuck in Rosewood for the night.
“I thought wow, this is not good.”
Quite concerned Jim took a seat and just listened to what was going on around him, and realised the strength of community spirit in the Rosewood area.
“It did not take long until I recognised that the ladies who worked at the Rosewood Library were having dinner at the pub, they said they were stuck in Rosewood for the night so they had to sleep at the library,” he said.
“Another family was explaining how they could not get home to Walloon so they were staying with family for the night.
“I just thought through all of this uncertainty that there was still hope in knowing that people were there with open arms to help others, it was a nice feeling.”
When Jim returned to his home, the water underneath his house had not reduced in height. For the remaining three full days of rain he continued to monitor the water level, while trying to stay dry.
“Compared to the 2011 flood, I would say that this flood seemed to just happen over a shorter period of time with rain that was so persistent,” he said.
“One positive view is that the main street of Rosewood was not flooded giving local businesses a break after what I am sure has been a challenging time for them through the uncertainty of Covid-19 restrictions for the past few years.
“This disaster though definitely had a huge impact on the Ipswich and the Brisbane areas and I really feel for all of the families who lost their homes or who were affected by the flood.”
