‘Heartbreaking’: Family living with disabilities flees flood

A heartbroken single mum and her 14-year-old son have been forced to fend for themselves after the devastating Queensland floods.

A single mum and her 14-year-old son, who are both Autistic, are of the thousands of people living with a disability who have been displaced following the tragic floods that swept through Queensland and NSW two weeks ago.

Alison Lees, a mother of three boys aged 10, 12 and 14, is having to rebuild after watching the deluge fill her home as she helplessly waited to be rescued.

Ms Lees managed to scoop her two dogs – including her eldest son’s disability support dog – under her arm, and wade her way through flood waters to a kayak before being paddled away to safety by a good Samaritan.

The Brisbane resident took to Facebook to be rescued after her cry for help went unanswered by SES and triple-0.

The family is currently living in a friend’s rumpus room, sleeping on donated mattresses and wearing second-hand clothes while their Corinda home is rebuilt.

The build could take up to 12 months.

Alison Lees with her 14-year-old son in their flood-damaged house. Picture: Supplied/Facebook

The avid reader said one of the biggest challenges she’s faced has been helping her son adjust to their “new normal”.

“Change is not something he copes well with, so I want to do everything to ensure that he feels safe and has continuity.”

“You often get obsessive kind of behaviour with Autism, mine is books – I had thousands of books that have been destroyed in the floods,” she said.

“My eldest son’s was gaming, so one of the biggest challenges has been to help him adjust to the new reality.”

Corinda mum Alison Lees claims she lost more than 1000 books in floods that ripped through her Brisbane home. Picture: Facebook

Founder and CEO of disability support platform Kynd, Michael Metcalfe, said floods expose social inequities and exacerbate the housing crisis for people with disability and carers.

“A natural disaster can be stressful for anyone, but for people living with a disability, it can be even more frightening.” he said.

“A disaster like the floods we’ve seen can really highlight social inequalities.”

“Future disaster recovery plans must consider how people living with a disability can urgently access support when their lives have been disrupted by long-term displacement,”

More than a year’s worth of landfill flooded the streets following the deluge. Picture: Peter Wallis/Getty Images

Ms Lees has set up a GoFund me page – so far she has raised over $15,000 dollars.

At least 17,000 homes have been damaged, with at least 5000 of these expected to be uninhabitable in Queensland and NSW.