No power, water, food

THEY are the forgotten people of the Brisbane flood disaster.

THEY are the forgotten people of the Brisbane flood disaster.

Just 17km from the city centre, the suburban communities of Bellbowrie, Moggill and Mount Crosby became their own islands when they were cut off by rising floodwaters.

For more than three days, they had no power, no water, scant food and no one knew about them. Floodwaters took their supermarket, dozens of people were left homeless and no one had power to tell the authorities outside what they needed.

Bellbowrie resident Gloria Brown said yesterday: "We called ourselves an island. A teenager I went past in the street said 'Welcome to Survivor'. We were forgotten. We had nobody to cry to and nobody was here to find out whether we were all right. That is a horrible feeling."

Help finally began arriving yesterday, once a desperate local called the ABC. Food was delivered by the army and the access road to Bellbowrie was only passable about lunchtime. The army used a Chinook helicopter to deliver supplies to Mount Crosby. Water and baby formula were most in need.

But most homes are still without power; locals are still lining up to get food and many are still packed in the makeshift evacuation centre that was set up in the Mogul Uniting Church.

They again ran out of water late yesterday afternoon. A vital food delivery was held up because of miscommunication. The council thought all was fine once the road opened. Far from it.

Yet, as with so many affected communities without help from the authorities, they had to do it themselves. Neighbours knocked on doors, gathered food, held street barbecues. Those without beds were billeted to families.

Heavily pregnant women were lifted by army helicopter to safety. A child who broke his arm was evacuated on a kayak to a hospital.

On Tuesday night, the main road out, Moggill Road, was cut off in three spots. The supermarket and dozens of homes were under water shortly after.

Uniting Church staff knew they had to act. They opened an evacuation centre at the church, just a "small operation". Hours later, they were swamped with people wanting food, shelter and water.

"We just had to survive with what we had here," said Graham Barnard, the church's facilities manager. "Nobody could reach us. We were an island. We had no power, no water or no food."

They raided homes for food and set up a kitchen using barbecues and two generators. They fed hundreds.

By Wednesday night, they were desperate. Food in fridges had spoiled. Canned supplies were low.

When floodwaters began to recede, locals waded to the supermarket and took what was left: tins of spaghetti, tuna, tomato sauce. Nuts and chips were found at the flooded service station.

"As a community we worked wonderfully together," Shirley Davey said. "All people wanted was some information. We needed to tell someone that we need milk, ice, baby formula. We needed to tell them what we needed."

Yesterday, dozens of locals descended on the local shopping complex to start the clean-up. Trolleys were used to ferry the stock and equipment that could not be saved from the floodwaters.