Brisbane homeowners, businesses clawing back one year after 2022 flood
One year after the devastating February 2022 floods, we talk to people about their heartache and their hopes for the future as Brisbane prepares to go to new heights in the coming years.
South West
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One year since the February floods, possibly the worst since the 1974 deluge, thousands of homeowners, tenants and small businesses are still dealing with the aftershock.
From a Rocklea man whose home insurance has tripled but can’t afford to sell up, to a Vietnamese takeaway owner who lost her life savings, the human cost has been terrible.
But many have fought back, cleaning up their homes and shops, moving to new locations, organising better emergency responses for the next flood and much more.
Bunnings says it is on track to open a special flood resilient warehouse at Oxley in 2025, while developer Mirvac is expected to unveil plans for a reimagined Toombul Shopping Centre later this year.
We talk to the survivors and take a look at what’s been happening since February last year.
SOUTHSIDE
Whole streets in Rocklea and Windsor were left ghost towns for more than half a year after the flood, with many houses declared unfit for habitation due to mould.
In the Rocklea area alone, 52 homes have been approved for buyback under a voluntary federal/state scheme.
Of those, 13 have settled and 27 have accepted offers.
Local Councillor Steve Griffiths said they would all have to be demolished and most would be turned into parkland, as had 45 other houses bought by Council in the past decade in Rocklea and Archerfield.
“Many are still abandoned. The crime rate has risen a lot and police are using some of the houses (approved for buyback) for training exercises,’’ he said.
“They’re mostly post-war, 1950s houses that in my opinion should never have been allowed to be built.
“A lot of people just walked away, especially in Coopers Plains and around Stable Swamp Creek.’’
Tramore St, Rocklea, homeowner David Khan said he was “damned if he did, damned if he didn’t’’.
He was offered a buyback but the post-flood valuation of his two-level house, which flooded only in the lower level, was so low he could not afford to buy elsewhere in Brisbane.
“My last insurance bill in December was $12,500 before that I was paying $4000,’’ he said.
“I realise insurance companies aren’t charities, they can’t keep on paying out, but there needs to be a levy like the ambulance levy to help out people like us.’’
In some good news, Bunnings Area Manager Jason Doyle said their Rocklea warehouse bounced back after being closed for 15 weeks.
Another outlet at Oxley would have to be rebuilt, including features such as flood doors and warning sirens. Bunnings hoped it could open in 2025.
“It was challenging for everyone to see the two stores so significantly impacted by the heavy rainfall, as well as the impact to the broader community,’’ Mr Doyle said.
“Re-opening our Rocklea store was a massive team effort spanning clean up, repairs and maintenance and we thank everyone for the patience they showed throughout that process.’’
Lucas Jackson said while he was able to rebuild his two units in his nine-unit Brooke St, Rocklea complex, most of the rest were low income earners.
They had been offered money under the flood resilience program but he said that was useless as the property’s flood level was 5m high — over its second floor ceiling.
“This time it came up 3.5m, into the cupboards and kitchens on the second floor,’’ he said.
“One man had to drag his wife, who has dementia, out of there and they have been told they can’t come back.
“Another elderly man stayed on, he didn’t want to be a burden to his family, but he had no walls and no way to heat or cool his unit.’’
Over at Sherwood Rd, Rocklea, family-owned packaging company Statpack was one of the few to escape without problems after activating an emergency plan they developed following the 2011 flood.
They had a temporary premises lined up and moved their stock on the Saturday before the area went under water.
All stock was saved and they were able to continue trading until they could move back.
Many others, particularly homeowners, were not so lucky.
About 50 homes in Oxley, Sherwood, Corinda, Yeronga and Graceville are in the process of being bought back.
Hundreds more have been offered money to raise their homes or make them flood resilient.
“It’s a drop in the bucket compared to what’s needed on the ground,’’ local councillor Nicole Johnston said.
“Many, many people have missed out on buyback funding — I know of dozens anecdotally who are going through the appeals process.’’
But she said the biggest problem had been the lack of builders.
While some residents were still fighting their insurers, even those who had been approved for payouts had been told they faced a wait of more than a year for repairs or renovations.
Some major parks were still closed as well, including Cactoblastis Corner at Sherwood where there had been a major landslip.
Taylor Bridge playground was also still closed, although design work was now under way to fix it.
Cr Johnston said she was dismayed Council had announced before Christmas that some of the city’s light industrial area would be rezoned for mixed use, allowing residential in what were floodprone areas.
This included a strip on Hyde Rd, Yeronga, near the old paint factory.
WESTSIDE
More than 10,000 people were cut off on a huge peninsula from Kenmore to Mt Crosby at the height of the flood.
For weeks after the reopening of Moggill Rd, the only major access, river crossings were cut which forced students who attended Ipswich schools to ride buses up to four hours a day. Traffic jams were epic.
Two heroes of that time were Lendlease construction worker Dan Hill and Tim Kempton, who ferried hundreds across Moggill Rd at Brookfield in their tinnies.
Mr Hill said people still thanked him at the local shops and he won two local hero awards.
Dubbed Tinnie Tim, he still has his trusty runabout.
“Hopefully I’ll just be using it for catching fish from now on,’’ he said.
“You just do what you need to do as a community. It was humbling to see everyone chip in to help.
“It’s hard to believe 12 months on. I can still picture where we took the tinnie when I drive past that part of Moggill Rd.’’
In a major breakthrough, SEQWater reopened the Mount Crosby Weir crossing a few weeks ago after it sustained massive damage.
It started works on a new, 3m higher crossing halfway through last year which would have two lanes. It was due for completion later this year.
Some locals have lobbied Council to build a car bridge or a bus bridge that could carry some cars in an emergency, pointing out that Council had previously scrapped a green bridge from Bellbowrie to Wacol.
Council has ruled out a new crossing, however.
But resident Simone Karandrews from the Karana Downs Region Disaster Community Support Group, with help from local state LNP MP Christian Rowan, recently managed to get approval from the Education Minister to use Mount Crosby State School as a community support centre in the next flood or fire.
“There is also ongoing collaborative work occurring between the Queensland Government and the Federal Government in relation to funding for equipment and resources (for use at the school) which can be utilised during natural disaster events,’’ Dr Rowan said.
Federal MP for Blair, Shayne Neumann, recently applied to the Federal Government for equipment for the centre, under the Disaster Ready Fund.
In hard-hit Rosalie, Auchenflower and Paddington, the damage has now largely been cleaned up and many businesses have reopened.
It took the McDonald’s on Milton Rd until June, however.
Australian Piano Warehouse was shut for almost two months and Shell Coles Express in Taringa is still not fully reopened.
The surprise, fastest comeback kids were popular nurseries Brookfield Gardens and Ross Evans, which reopened within two months despite losing most of their plants and stock.
NORTHSIDE/INNER-CITY/CBD
Toombul Shopping Centre and its 130-plus retailers were the single biggest victims of the flood on the northside, with owners Mirvac shocking locals after confirming in May that the centre would not reopen.
It doubled an initial cash payment offer to retailers but some lost their life savings and could not afford to reopen.
Others have managed to move to new sites, such as Tina Worland at Antica homewares store and Toombul Dental co-owner Bella Verity.
Some had insurance, such as Elenis Pippos of Fruits of Eden, but many more were uninsured because they were knocked back or could not afford high premiums for the floodprone site.
Mirvac released results of a community survey two weeks ago which revealed most locals wanted a mixed-use redevelopment at the huge site, with public green space, some retail and dining/entertainment venues, better flood resilience and some housing.
Mirvac is expected to reveal its plans later this year.
Over at creek-front properties in Wilston and around Northey St in Windsor, dozens of homes are still abandoned, awaiting buybacks.
The landmark Stamford Plaza five-star hotel in the CBD, which has hosted the likes of muso Ed Sheeran, was out of action until October due to major flooding of electrical and other services.
Hairdressing franchise Stefan sold its South Brisbane headquarters to developer Aria Property Group last year, which planned to build a multi-tower residential high-rise on the site.
Although most of the stock at its Bach Living homewares outlet was written off, with major damage to a warehouse and its headquarters, it reopened nearby late last year.
Most of Brisbane’s CityCat terminals are now reopened after sustaining major damage.
Several vessels sank but new ones have since come online.
Council has also installed smart flood warning signs on floodprone roads across the city.
IPSWICH/SOUTHWEST
The first at-risk flood homes in Goodna have recently been demolished as part of the Resilient Homes Scheme, delivered as part of the joint Commonwealth-State Disaster Recovery Funding Arrangements (DRFA).
The six properties on Cox Cres, Enid St and Mill St were bought under the Voluntary Home Buy-Back program.
The land will be rezoned for non-habitable use.
Ipswich City Council Mayor Teresa Harding said the program was the first of its kind in the state.
“Once the property has been purchased by council and settlement finalised, all utility services to the property are removed and structures are demolished in due course, with the land rezoned for non-habitable uses,” she said.
“Valuations are continuing across Ipswich in the suburbs of Basin Pocket, Bundamba, Churchill, East Ipswich, Goodna, Karalee, Moores Pocket, North Booval, North Ipswich, One Mile, Sadliers Crossing, Tivoli, West Ipswich and Wulkuraka.”
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