Inside Seymour’s flood relief centre after record-breaking floods

Stranded in a city hundreds of kilometres from home, reporter Olivia Condous found herself sleeping on the floor of the local evacuation centre. This is what it was like.

The town of Seymour in Victoria’s north experienced record-breaking floods last week that forced more than 140 people to seek refuge from rising waters. I was one of them.

By Thursday night, the town had recorded 122mm of rain.

VicEmergency issued an evacuation order for the township about 7.30pm, ordering residents to leave the town or go to the evacuation centre.

By 10pm, there were about 40 people at the relief centre, as well as several dogs and cats in cages outside.

Each arrival was coloured with shades of sadness, exhaustion, fear and shock, after the flood waters had suddenly engulfed half of the town.

Seymour Sports and Aquatic Centre was transformed into a relief centre. Picture: Olivia Condous.

There were tears, hugs, words of comfort and hot drinks made to thaw cold hands.

Most people crowded into the warm entrance room, where council staff checked in arrivals, episodes from Bluey were projected on the wall and evacuees sat on bean bags, plastic chairs and on the carpet, while eating pizza and pasta donated by the community.

Centre of Seymour township was completely flooded. Picture: Olivia Condous.

The rest of the facility was basketball courts and a swimming pool.

People showered in the pool changing rooms and some chose to sleep on the basketball courts, where it was cold but quieter.

I came to Seymour to report on the escalating floods that day, but I didn’t foresee my day ending on the floor of a basketball court.

Upon arriving at the recreation-turned-evacuation centre, I tried to seek refuge from the weather as my accommodation had, like many homes, been ordered to evacuate.

Evacuees slept on the floor of the basketball courts. Picture: Olivia Condous

However, unlike locals and despite their positivity towards my coverage earlier in the day, council staff immediately informed me no media was permitted on the property and that I would have to find somewhere else to go.

After much a lot of discussion, I was eventually allowed to shelter inside, much to my gratitude and relief.

Looking around the relief centre, many of the evacuated residents were elderly, some with walking frames or other mobility issues, who had been rescued by SES volunteers.

There were a handful of young children running around the basketball court playing.

People continued to arrive in the early hours of Friday morning, some drenched in water.

It was a long night. Half of the people didn’t attempt to sleep at all, sitting up all night and wondering how high the flood water was at their homes.

The centre staff worked tirelessly throughout the night, handing out blankets and sleeping bags as the temperature dropped.

While I was uncomfortable sleeping on the basketball court floor, I knew that I’d have a bed to go home to the next day, provided there was a road out of town.

But most of the people at the relief centre didn’t know when they’d be able to go home at all.