Smelly silt and worms: the view from Brisbane
WHEN Efrat Sudai moved to Queensland from Israel, she had never heard of the record-breaking 1974 Brisbane flood. She found a nice apartment 200 metres from the Brisbane River in the suburb of New Farm.
Following last week’s deluge, however, the word “nice” no longer seems appropriate.
“I can’t believe it because now everything is a one-metre pool and the walls, floors and doors are very badly damaged and will need replacing,” said the 31-year-old, who lives with her partner, Andy, and their dog Bob.
“My bathroom has got white tiles, but there is not one to be seen. They are covered in brown silt that has a terrible smell and is full of worms. We’ll just have to wait to see what needs to be repaired.”
According to Sudai, the early warnings from emergency services were key to helping her move most of her valuables to friends’ apartments upstairs.
“I guess I feel lucky that I am safe and we had lots of good people to help us, but to have the whole house washed away, it’s tough to feel very lucky.
“There might be a structural problem so we really just don’t know at the moment.”
Twenty kilometers south-west of New Farm, Guy and Orly Segal lost their house in Mount Ommaney. Luckily for the couple and their three children, friend Michelle Rebibou offered her home as refuge.
“The flood rose really quickly and my friend had to suddenly start packing their house and they left at 3am and came to live with us,” Rebibou said. “There was stuff floating down the river and then our power was turned off, but we have been lucky because our neighbours have given us a generator so we can power our fridges and freezers.”
Rebibou and the Segal family returned to the Mount Ommaney house, but weren’t prepared for what they saw.
“The whole roof went under and when we went back there was a chair stuck in the ceiling of the house. It was just complete devastation.”
JOSHUA LEVI
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