The Brisbane River peaked at 4.46 metres early this morning, one metre lower than the floods of 1974, but in a city now built up and sprawling.
Today, locals began to face the challenge of returning to a normal life, a task that could take months or even years, with more than 26,000 homes and 5,000 businesses in 67 suburbs affected.
For some families, the death of loved ones means life will never be the same again. So far 15 people have lost their lives and 61 were still missing late on Thursday.
Queensland Government worker Rebecca Stevens says her family got off lightly, and described the whole experience as “bittersweet.”
“Our own home hasn’t been affected because we’re far from the river (in Sunnybank), but we have a rental property in Indooroopilly that is currently sitting in one metre of water,” she said. “Last night it was two metres deep, but the waters have receded a bit, but still not enough to go inside.”
“But we are safe and have all our belongings, and I feel rather guilty even talking about our impact, because it’s not much compared to some people,” she said.
“This is likely to be a big setback for us financially—particularly given that both my husband and I work in the CBD and I’m not sure when we'll be back at work.”
Today, locals began to face the challenge of returning to a normal life, a task that could take months or even years, with more than 26,000 homes and 5,000 businesses in 67 suburbs affected.
For some families, the death of loved ones means life will never be the same again. So far 15 people have lost their lives and 61 were still missing late on Thursday.
Queensland Government worker Rebecca Stevens says her family got off lightly, and described the whole experience as “bittersweet.”
“Our own home hasn’t been affected because we’re far from the river (in Sunnybank), but we have a rental property in Indooroopilly that is currently sitting in one metre of water,” she said. “Last night it was two metres deep, but the waters have receded a bit, but still not enough to go inside.”
“But we are safe and have all our belongings, and I feel rather guilty even talking about our impact, because it’s not much compared to some people,” she said.
“This is likely to be a big setback for us financially—particularly given that both my husband and I work in the CBD and I’m not sure when we'll be back at work.”
Rebecca’s family hopes to access the property by the weekend to begin the arduous cleanup. “I’m not looking forward to the possible sewage, filth, mosquitoes and even snakes that we might find—the property is near parkland, so I guess we might find more than we expect.”
She says the immediate impact on the people of Brisbane remains unclear. More than 150 roads are still closed, and parts of the city are without power and public transport, with shops closed.
“Already the shops shelves are empty,” she said. “There were a lot of people walking around, looking at the waters, probably partly in shock about what they were seeing.”
She praised the state and local government’s efforts in managing the crisis, saying, “From what I’ve seen so far, the response from all the authorities has been wonderful. Now we all have to get behind them and do our part to help rebuild Brisbane.”
She says the immediate impact on the people of Brisbane remains unclear. More than 150 roads are still closed, and parts of the city are without power and public transport, with shops closed.
“Already the shops shelves are empty,” she said. “There were a lot of people walking around, looking at the waters, probably partly in shock about what they were seeing.”
She praised the state and local government’s efforts in managing the crisis, saying, “From what I’ve seen so far, the response from all the authorities has been wonderful. Now we all have to get behind them and do our part to help rebuild Brisbane.”
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Community Spirit Shields Local Business
Andrea van Heerden and her husband Charl expected to lose a warehouse full of furniture to the Brisbane River as they watched waters visibly rising on Tuesday in the known floodzone.
But more than 10 friends “dropped everything” to help the couple try and save their business—around $150,000 worth of stock not covered by flood insurance.
The heavy mango wood contemporary Indian stock was piled high in the warehouse, as they loaded up the truck. They managed one load before the flood waters arrived, and everyone told them to leave, as the waters crept up the street.
“We had left about 80 per cent of our stock in the warehouse assuming it would go under,” Andrea said.
On Wednesday, Charl visited the warehouse to inspect the damage, wading through water surrounding the building to access the storage area. Amazingly it was still dry inside, and the couple rescued another three loads.
“We knew high tide would be at 2 or 3 o’clock in the afternoon so we were throwing things on trucks as best we could,” Andrea said. During the final load, sloshed through ankle-deep water, desperately gathering a few more pieces.
“By the time we left, we were wading through knee deep water, and then we just had to leave the rest of it, so we were lucky to save a little bit more of our stock.”
Andrea said friends from their children’s school, John Paul College, created a “very strong school community feeling.” One lady looked after their children, even though her parents’ house was flooding.
On Thursday afternoon, after the floods began receding, Andrea went to buy gumboots so they could reach the warehouse as soon as the water had dropped down far enough.
But more than 10 friends “dropped everything” to help the couple try and save their business—around $150,000 worth of stock not covered by flood insurance.
The heavy mango wood contemporary Indian stock was piled high in the warehouse, as they loaded up the truck. They managed one load before the flood waters arrived, and everyone told them to leave, as the waters crept up the street.
“We had left about 80 per cent of our stock in the warehouse assuming it would go under,” Andrea said.
On Wednesday, Charl visited the warehouse to inspect the damage, wading through water surrounding the building to access the storage area. Amazingly it was still dry inside, and the couple rescued another three loads.
“We knew high tide would be at 2 or 3 o’clock in the afternoon so we were throwing things on trucks as best we could,” Andrea said. During the final load, sloshed through ankle-deep water, desperately gathering a few more pieces.
“By the time we left, we were wading through knee deep water, and then we just had to leave the rest of it, so we were lucky to save a little bit more of our stock.”
Andrea said friends from their children’s school, John Paul College, created a “very strong school community feeling.” One lady looked after their children, even though her parents’ house was flooding.
On Thursday afternoon, after the floods began receding, Andrea went to buy gumboots so they could reach the warehouse as soon as the water had dropped down far enough.
