Mum influencer Brittany Opetaia-Halls’ house floods in rain-bomb
A Moreton Bay family were devastated to wake on Wednesday morning to find dirty water and debris inside their home, damaging floors, walls, doors and furniture.
QLD News
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A mum influencer has told of her shock of waking to her Moreton Bay home flooded and full of mud and debris after heavy rain smashed the region.
Brittany Opetaia-Halls claims the unexpected flood was caused by nearby council works.
“The entire entry of our house was just brown with weird squiggle marks on it. There was water there,” she said.
“We came down the steps and then realised it had flowed from the front door down into our second living room.”
The ground floor was filled with mud and debris caused by floodwaters, damaging the flooring, carpet, doors, couches and the family storage in the garage and the spare bedroom.
“We have two couches … they’ve had water seeping into them, and with the rain and the heat, it’s just going to turn into mould,” Ms Opetaia-Halls said.
“A few of the walls might have to be pulled out. Our front door has completed bowed.”
Brisbane recorded 151mm rainfall this week since the start of the downpour on Monday, causing flash flooding across southeast Queensland.
The family-of-four has been living in the house since 2020, outside the area Moreton Bay Regional Council lists as a flood risk.
But as the rain battered down again on Wednesday the family were forced to resort to sandbags to stop the damage.
“Just 10 minutes of rain caused it to rush down that trench and flow down our stairs,” Ms Opetaia-Halls said.
“My husband had to replace the sandbags along the trench … As soon as he did that, it prevented it from streaming down there.”
Ms Opetaia-Halls claimed the unexpected water was because of council work for road upgrade that dug a trench in front of her home.
“I think that may have been something that they should have been aware of, coming into the wet season,” she said.
“Our house has been so dirty from all their soil running off.”
A spokeswoman for the project contractor Allencon said she was uncertain whether she could comment as the matter had been passed to the insurance company.
A City of Moreton Bay spokeswoman said the council was aware of an incident that was raised by a resident with a contractor that carried out works to relocate overhead power lines to underground along Old Gympie Road in October.
“As part of these routine service relocation works, the contractor dug a trench on October 24 and refilled it on October 31, returning the ground levels to their original state,” she said.
“The contractor provided the resident with sandbags to help mitigate against potential flooding.
“The contractor’s insurer is now investigating the matter and has recommended the resident also contact their insurer. Council will cooperate with the assessment of any insurance claim.”
The spokeswoman also said this part of Moreton Bay experienced heavy rainfall, causing widespread flooding and multiple road closure across the city.
“That included a period of intense rainfall between midnight and 1am when 73mm of rain fell,” she said.
“This is close to a five per cent or one in 20 annual exceedance probability rain event which is an infrequent event.
“The nearby Freshwater Creek water level gauge recorded a peak of 1.6m, which is just above the level of Old Gympie Road at the crossing of Freshwater Creek.”
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