It was the fourth time in less than 50 years a flood considered “once in a century” has hit south east Queensland.
Back in November, it looked so different. Queenslanders were staring down water restrictions with Wivenhoe Dam at 54.9 per cent.
From Thursday, February 24 to Sunday, February 28, the dam level rose to more than 183 per cent, with rainfall approaching levels expected over the year, according to the Bureau of Meteorology.
It prompted authorities to make slow releases to avoid a repeat of large releases they were forced to make in 2011.
Ms Palaszczuk said this time around the intensity of the flooding was not due to handling of the dams, but a freak weather event that rapidly surpassed predictions.
“Everyone expected the conditions to ease, but they didn’t, and this rain bomb stayed over the entire south east, and it had a big impact on the catchments,” she said.
“Now, that is unpredictable – no one, not even the bureau, saw that coming.”
People reported widely about the rapid escalation of flood waters. From being told by the state government on Friday night there was nothing to worry about, to being inundated over the next two days, the experience was hard to digest for evacuees around town.
Expecting parents Trevor and Kelly Reeves filed into Logan’s evacuation centre at Logan Metro Sports & Events Centre in Crestmead last early last Tuesday after their Kingston townhouse was flooded. They went to bed on Saturday night not thinking they would have a problem – especially since the floods in 2011 stopped short of the townhouse complex.
“It started raining four days before the initial flood hit us, but we got woken up on Sunday at midnight to my property manager banging on the door,” Mr Reeves said.
“I’d just woken up, I’d had two hours of sleep, and as soon as I hit the bottom step I realised that was what he was here for.”
They spent the night in the car and the following Monday at their townhouse to start cleaning up.
“We cleaned everything up because we thought the water had gone,” he said, only to have the water start rising again in the evening.
He said their damages were not as bad as some families who lost their whole downstairs living rooms in the townhouse complex, but they will take a long time to recover important valuables like washing machines, power tools, and – most deflating of all losses – a brand new cot for their first child.
“My wife’s 27-weeks pregnant, so we had a brand new cot just delivered and now that’s gone,” he said.
The couple said they do not have home insurance.
“We were quoted for home and contents when we moved in, but it was just astronomical, so we couldn’t afford it,” Mr Reeves said.
“We hoped and prayed something wouldn’t happen, but that’s obviously not the case.”
