Glenys Mulcahy woke on Friday morning and began sweeping the floors of the fastidiously neat Rochester home she has lived in for 54 years.
A few hours later, those pristine floors were covered in murky water and Glenys was watching the level rise ominously up the walls.
The Mulcahys’ home was one of hundreds affected by floodwater in Rochester on Friday as the bloated Campaspe River broke its banks and spilled out into the town.
Although it quickly became obvious their home would soon be inundated, Glenys remained cheery and often laughed, insisting it was important to stay positive, while chatting to The Age. Glenys and her husband Brian have lived through five floods since moving into the house, a few blocks back from the river, 54 years ago. Only once – in 2011 – has floodwater entered their home.
But despite the rising threat, they weren’t going anywhere.
“We’re happy here” Glenys said. “We just want to protect our home.”
Brian and Glenys Mulcahy smile in the face of the floodwaters threatening their home of 54 years.Credit: Justin McManus
Glenys and her husband Brian invited The Age into their home, with ornate plaster cornices and an interior archway built by Glenys’ father decades ago, about 11am – just before water began entering. It was clear then that the water would keep rising.
At 11.52am, water started to bubble up through the toilet and began pushing up from the bathroom floor.
“Well, it’s coming,” Glenys said.
Five minutes later, water leaked through the front door, leaving a dark patch on the carpet.
By 11.59am the water came up from the skirting near the back door, continuing its glacial but merciless spread through the house.
They had earlier attempted to prevent the inevitable by pumping water through a hose over a wall of sandbags they had placed across their driveway, but shortly after the floor was ankle deep in brown water carrying sticks and debris into every corner of the home.
“Bloody thing, I thought we might save it,” Brian said as he busily moved about the house trying to raise speakers and beds onto blocks.
Sporting memorabilia signifying the achievements of their sons is proudly displayed in a glass cabinet, safe, they hoped, from the rising water.
Water sloshes around the Mulcahys’ feet as they prepare their home for the flood.Credit: Justin McManus
Despite their laughter, Glenys and Brian were doing their best to protect the house and the many happy family memories it contains. But they have experienced pain, too. The couple’s oldest son Michael died in a car accident in 1985 aged 17. Their other son Peter now lives in the Melbourne suburb of Ringwood.
By early Friday afternoon, water was gushing through some Rochester streets with enough strength to knock over those walking through it. In other places, water moved slowly but steadfastly and became an unwanted visitor in many homes.
But the Mulcahys still did not consider leaving, even as emergency services issued an evacuation order on Thursday evening.
On Friday morning, the Rochester SES volunteer Judith Gledhill said the unit was limiting its call-outs to traffic accidents and fallen trees, if access was possible at all, after a number of rescues the night before.
Their attempt to pump water out of the house did little to slow the inevitable.Credit: Justin McManus
“We are not able to respond to calls for flooding because unfortunately, our town is now going under,” she said.
By the afternoon Rochester was all but cut off from surrounding towns, with some residents expecting the isolation to last for days. Many had decided to leave earlier, some for the evacuation centre in nearby Echuca.
But on Friday afternoon, Glenys, Brian, some of their neighbours and a contingent of emergency services personnel remained.
The couple said they had repaired their house after the 2011 floods, and they would do it again.
“It’s not flash or anything, but we love it.”
As water continued to fill the Mulcahys’ home about 1.30pm, The Age’s correspondents moved to safer, drier terrain.
Brian and Glenys were still moving a lifetime of accumulated belongings off the floor. Preparing, defending, as the water in their backyard came close to waist-height.
Glenys takes a moment to check on the rising water levels outside.Credit: Justin McManus
The Morning Edition newsletter is our guide to the day’s most important and interesting stories, analysis and insights. Sign up here.