Rosslea grandma loses almost two decades of possesions in Townsville floods

A Rosslea grandma lost almost two decades of memories after her uninsured home was inundated by floodwaters.

A ROSSLEA grandma lost almost two decades of memories after her uninsured home was inundated by floodwaters.

Property owner Debbie Sullivan said she would “just rebuild” as she slowly assesses the damage of her waterlogged home.

She sandbagged and held out for as long as she could, but eventually evacuated to the Ignatius Park College Evacuation Centre, where she anxiously waited to return.

What she returned to was 19 years of possessions covered in mud.

“I just cried,” she said. “I just didn’t stop crying. It was overwhelming, I just cried thinking about everything I’ve lost.

“All my children’s and my grandchildren’s things are all here.

“I had a playroom set-up for them. I had my sewing room, I had everything here for them that I built up over years of life and it’s just all gone.”

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Ms Sullivan was uninsured as she cancelled her cover over a year ago while her husband Peter was out of work.

He is currently battling Leukaemia.

She described yesterday as “one of her hardest days” as she began filtering through all of her possessions.

“This is really hard, it’s really hard to go through all the stuff that you’re just going to throw,” she said.

“I’ve got cupboards in my bedroom that my father made and he’s been gone for 18 years, I don’t even want to think about if I can’t save that.

“I have a rocking horse that he made me, and that’s okay.

“You just got to get on and rebuild it, you can’t dwell on it.”

On Tuesday her son and others came to her aid, and began clearing the mud that was spread throughout the house.

“They took everything out of here, they did two loads to the dump. This (house) was covered in mud and they just got in here and cleaned and hosed,” she said.”

“It was unreal what they did in a few hours, it would have taken me weeks to do by myself.”

Originally published as Rosslea grandma loses almost two decades of possesions in Townsville floods