Camille O’Sullivan’s Cordelia home floods for a second time in 2025 floods
A Cordelia woman has started the clean up from the 2025 floods twice, with her home surrounded by water for a second time when the Herbert River began to rise again.
Townsville
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It has now been an exhausting fortnight since Cordelia resident Camille O’Sullivan has been trapped in her home by the raging Herbert River – caught by floods and afraid of being caught by crocs.
The small settlement on the banks of the river is 5km from Ingham along the Halifax Road.
Her backyard, now underwater, is where two 3.8m crocs have been removed in the past three years and it now has merged with the raging Herbert River.
When the Townsville Bulletin first spoke to Ms O’Sullivan last week, she was starting to clean up, with the water receding from her property.
But days later, the banks swelled again and the water rose under her home.
“I’m just exhausted emotionally and physically. Its just been a long time since things have been normal around here,” she said on Wednesday.
“At the moment it’s been 12 days, but I did spend the week before, trying to prepare. So it’s longer than 12 days for us here on the river.”
But for the Catholic schoolteacher it has been an emotional time and she just wants her life back to normal.
“I just the water to go down so we can start cleaning again and try and get rid of some of the mould. We would just want things to be a little more normal,” she said.
For another Cordelia resident Hanna Povey and her husband it has been their second flood in three years since moving to the area from Mount Isa.
The couple moved to Cordelia for a sea change, with their home also backing onto the Herbert River.
Luckily, this time, the water only lapped at their back door.
“The first flood in 2023 I think it was all right, but this time I was just scared. I could just see the river going higher and higher and higher,” Mrs Povey said.
But despite the flooding the pair love their new lifestyle.
“I told my husband, maybe we should rethink this time and move. We still have our house in Mount Isa. Maybe we should just go back, but now I love it here,” she said.
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Originally published as Camille O’Sullivan’s Cordelia home floods for a second time in 2025 floods
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