Drop in with Daniel - Flood Edition

Monday 3 February
Hello Hinchinbrook,

What a crazy week we have had. I am in Forrest Beach and whilst I am safe there were a few homes with bad flooding, I am thinking of everyone in Ingham who had no choice but to leave their homes, I cannot begin to imagine what that must feel like.

This has been a week of firsts to me, my first natural disaster. Back in Adelaide our natural disasters are most likely bushfires, but they have never affected me. Now, my first month in Hinchinbrook and we have been hit by the worst flood in recent memory.

At Forrest Beach flooding is minor, despite a few homes close to the beach, on Fern Street, but after seeing the Queensland Ambulance Service video flying over Ingham it almost doesn’t feel real to me. At the beach we are isolated and unable to get into Ingham and it’s hard to believe what is happening is real.

In other firsts this week, on Monday 3rd February I went door knocking on Wattle Street and although everyone on the street were safe, a couple were deeply concerned for their parents/parents-in-law located on Fern Street.

The woman, Maria Boeyen, was deeply concerned for her parents, flooding had been getting higher and higher each day.

Monday morning it was chest deep, but her mother with Alzheimer’s and her father refused to leave. I reported back to the Disaster Management Group and it was made priority one. The Queensland Fire Service (QFS) located here in Forrest Beach left immediately, but although in the presence of safety professionals the couple on Fern Street continued to refuse. A small group of the Disaster Management Group and myself decided taking Maria to her parents place would convince them to leave and on arrival at the home, Maria’s parents accepted help almost immediately. Shortly after a QFS operator was wading through the water holding the family dog. After seeing this Maria was delighted and said, “If he’s giving up his dog, he's coming.”

While I am safe in Forrest Beach, limited phone reception and lack of power is making life dull, I continue to get in touch with my mum every morning who is deservedly worried. But it’s okay and I guess we just have to wait it out.

Wednesday 5 February
I was woken at 3:30 in the morning today with my fire alarm blaring, it shook me awake, I couldn’t imagine a worse wake up. I predict the humidity made it believe there was smoke.

In other news I managed to slowly get back into work today, I interviewed some neighbours and checked up on the family on Wattle Street to see how they were doing, and it was nice to feel more connected again.

Thursday 6 February
I think today was the hardest day so far, it hit me at how tedious this is, and I’m sick of it. I’m sick of being isolated, and stuck.

In brighter news, I managed to get into Ingham today, I visited the fire and rescue and Ingham power station. It was nice to get out of Forrest Beach. But I couldn’t have a normal day could I, my car battery decided to die.

Friday 7 February
With a flat battery in the car, I can no longer charge my phone in it but luckily for me the North Queensland community is an amazing one. The Forrest Beach Shops and Takeaway have been amazing during this week, allowing people to turn up and use their generators to charge devices.

I also got in contact with my colleague Sherie and her and her husband came to Forrest Beach for me with a solar panel to charge devices, and a mobile jump starter for the car.

Saturday 8 February
I made the mistake this morning of checking Ergon Energy’s Facebook page first thing, and I was frustrated to see that some places in Forrest Beach had received power but I was still without. Of course, I was thrilled for the rest of the Forrest Beach community, we had been isolated and without power for almost a week, so it was great everybody could enjoy some peace and quiet without those generators going!

Feeling sorry for myself I sat outside charging my phone with the solar power Sherie had given me, although I was feeling upset and sick of it, excitement was rising as I saw Ergon Energy trucks driving around completing checks. At 12:39 I heard a cheer from my neighbours, and power was back!

Monday 10 February
After a long week, I am starting to feel back to normal, I have a new battery on my car, a full tank of petrol and best of all - air con!

I understand that although it may be a while before things get back to normal, we can be proud of ourselves and should acknowledge how lucky we are to live in this region surrounded by the wonderful people.

This community is strong and with potential flood warnings continuing tonight, I believe we are resilient enough to make it through another one, but fingers crossed we don’t have to!