NEWS FIRST: Our commitment to the Star community

Just like the past 63 years, the Gatton Star will stand beside and bring you the community's news first

FLASHBACK: Queensland Fire & Rescue Swift Water Rescue Team at location of a submerged utility preparin to secure the vehicle. Picture: MARTINELLI DAVID

IT WAS like a category five cyclone had ripped through the heart of the Lockyer Valley.

Homes were ripped off their foundations, some with people still inside.

People, pets and cars were washed downstream while creeks and rivers peaked about 8m before reaching the town it tore to shreds.

Grantham was dubbed "ground zero".

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The catastrophic January 2011 floods tore through the Lockyer Valley like it was a flimsy piece of tissue paper, destroying anything and everything in its path.

The brutally horrific disaster claimed 30 lives across Queensland.

While the disaster is in the past, it's one that has been ingrained into our region's history.

During the floods, the Gatton Star was there, as it has been there for all the major events.

Today we're here to renew this commitment to you.

For the past 63 years the Gatton Star has been at the highs, lows and major events that have shaped our region in one way or another.

Our newspaper has come a long way since it first hit the streets on September 28, 1956, but this is just the beginning.

It's our responsibility to ensure your newspaper reflects what is happening in town, from the good, to the bad and the ugly.

New faces may pop up in our editorial room but we are riding the same journey as everyone else in the community.

We worry when a fire threatens our homes, we eat lunch and buy our coffee at the same cafe as you and we cheer for the same sports teams - sometimes we are even part of them.

During the next four weeks, the Gatton Star will pledge its commitment to the community to ensure we bring you the news first.

We will take you inside some of the most significant milestones in the region and continue to bring you, our readers, the news you deserve.