After endless weeks of rain fall and numerous king tides on the Brisbane river, when the call came through at work last Tuesday that the waters were going to rise high enough to maybe enter our building at Newstead I was skeptical. So much so, that I was frustrated that everyone at work was getting so worked up – even excited – at the prospect of *minor* flooding that they neglected their work duties.

Aghhh what a wonder hindsight is!

Thank goodness for those in our office who actually followed the news and the events of the day before in Toowoomba, otherwise we might not have been as prepared as we were.

After the enormity and seriousness of the flood warnings finally hit home, our workforce swung into action dismantling, labeling and transporting all our equipment to high ground. It was a gigantic task but many hands make light work – well kind of. Unfortunately while all mission critical equipment was relocated a lot of furniture and other office fittings were left to take on the flood onslaught – including my scooter which I was unable to ride home due to the heavy rain.

We managed to clear out most of our equipment and furniture, however a lot was still left there when access to the building was cut off on Wednesday morning

We left the office Tuesday afternoon after warnings that roads would soon be closed off. There wasn’t any more to do now but wait for the disaster to unfold.

Wednesday morning I was thrown a life line, or my scooter was at least. The sun was out shining, the roads had yet to be closed and the power had not yet been cut off to our building. These three things meant that I could get into work to retrieve my scooter. Gerrod offered to drive me in and when we got there we found that the river had already risen substantially and that water had already made its way down our street blocking off sections. Jacqui – our boss – was doing last minute preparation so we helped move the last of our expensive servers to a safer location before heading back home to log in and get some work done while we waited for Thursday morning 4am – the flood peak.

The waters started to rise on Wednesday morning

Unfortunately it wasn’t long before the Brisbane River flood peak that I received some devastating news. Around lunchtime on Wednesday my family rang to tell me that my Grandfather’s house had gone under. I couldn’t believe what I was hearing. My Grandfather lives out near the North Pine Dam – not far from the flood gates – and over the years when they’ve released water you see the creek at the bottom of his property rise a metre or two and enjoy the spectacle. His house however is situated a good 10-12 meters higher than the creek floor and located on the side of a hill. You would never have thought his house would be in danger – ever. However, the sheer volume of water let out of the gates inundated the surrounding area and all of his property was flooded. 50+ years of life, possessions, memories ruined.

Thankfully, my Grandfather made a brilliant decision to leave the property when he did and stay with one of his neighbours on higher ground. It was a flash flood of epic proportions, rising from nothing to flooding his property in 20 minutes. No time to take anything out of the house.

Although we knew of my grandfather’s news, we couldn’t do anything to help just yet. There was no way in and there wouldn’t be for another 24 hours or so. So, in between working, I remained glued to the TV, shaking my head as I witnessed the devastation that had hit Toowoomba and the Lockyer Valley the day before, and learnt how bad Brisbane was about to be hit.

Waking up Thursday to more blue skies and sunshine, from where we sat we’d be forgiven for thinking this whole flood thing was a pile of hooey but soon after switching on the television, we found that it was very, very real. Significant parts of Brisbane City were well and truly under water. The damage cost and cleanup efforts would be tremendous. Once again, there was nothing to be done until the flood waters subsided, so we carried on as usual getting our work done.

Ross Street, Newstead – This is where my Dingu Blue office is located.

This is the business right next door to our building.

The next morning the river had receded and we were given the command “All hands on deck”. It was time to mobilize the Dingu Blue workforce and get to cleaning up.

Our office was well and truly flooded through, filling the entire office about one meter high. Everything left in there, was ruined – dishwasher, fridges, furniture, carpet, etc.

The cleanup effort was hampered without having electricity, but we managed to do a mighty fine job getting most of the left over equipment pulled apart and out on the curb ready to be picked up by the council. It was a long, hard day but we left the office in a relatively clean state, ready to start the re-fitting process once it has been deemed electrically safe. It’ll probably be at least a week before we’re back in there working again though.

The scene that greets us, when we arrived Friday morning to clean up

The carpets have been ripped up, furniture has been demolished and removed.

The garage cleanup effort was hampered by a non-functioning garage door. It took hours before we could get it open.

Now the weekend was upon us, it was time to go help the rest of Brisbane. Thousands of volunteers from suburbs not affected raided the city centre to help out their unknown neighbours in this time of tragedy. It was heart warming to see. We, however, headed the other direction to help out my grandfather and father with the daunting cleanup task out at their place. Teddy helped out in his own special way by being an angel for his babysitting nanna and pa.

Thankfully, my Dad had some tremendous assistance from his friends, and for the last three days there’s been a good sized group of volunteers helping to sort through, clear, throw out and clean up their place. It’s been guttered and it will take months before it’s back to being anything like it was pre-flood.

An awful lot of history had to be dumped in the skip

I’m exhausted and sore from the evacuation, and then clean up. My body is not used to doing manual labor. I look forward to having a rest for a day or two as I head back to work tomorrow, conscious that many won’t be taking a break from the clean up for a long time yet.

NOTE: most images sourced from gerrod.com and news.com.au