Hervey Bay floods: Residents vow to rebuild after storm slams regional city
Yola Ashfield was part of the flood rescue team that responded to the devastating Lockyer Valley floods in 2011. Now she’s counting the cost of heavy rains on her own doorstep.
Fraser Coast
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Devastated home and business owners are dealing with the aftermath of the worst flooding to hit Hervey Bay in decades.
It comes after more than 250mm fell in just, sending torrents of water through the CBD and suburban streets, collapsing roofs and trapping people in their cars and homes.
On the Esplanade at Urangan, Yola Ashfield’s beach house has become an island – surrounded by floodwaters which while slightly receding by the afternoon, was still above the first few steps having swallowed pot plants and lapping halfway up the council rubbish bins.
Mrs Ashfield and her dog, Ruski were stranded from the early hours of Sunday.
“The water’s stuck here because it’s sitting on top of sand,” she said.
“It’s got nowhere to go.”
For Mrs Ashfield however, it was all about perspective after she survived the Lockyer Valley floods in 2011 and volunteered in the clean-up efforts at Grantham in the years that followed.
“This is nothing because there were deaths in the Lockyer,” she said.
“I’ve been part of the flood rescue team in Grantham and was trapped for two weeks during the 2011 floods.
“I just don’t understand how this can happen in my backyard.”
While waters had receded in the CBD on Sunday afternoon, the nightmare for business owners was only just beginning.
Speaking to this publication as he swept out sludge from Dulux Paints, owner Ed O’Neill said water levels reached 500mm in his Torquay Rd store, sending paint tins and other materials floating.
“A lot of lower hanging stuff has been damaged, as well as electrical gear,” Mr O’Neill said.
“The water was just streaming past all these shops.
“It’s just an enormous volume of water.”
Helped by his family and friends as they cleaned up, Mr O’Neill was determined to open on Monday and said “there’ll be painters here looking for paint in the morning so we’re going to do what we can”.
At the nearby Bay Plaza complex in Pialba, Woolworths was locked up and in darkness with groceries and other goods strewn across the floor.
Shocking video from earlier in the day showed the car park surrounding the complex and between the neighbouring Pialba Place and Hervey Bay RSL underwater.
A thick layer of woody debris was left behind outside Woolworths and popular surrounding businesses including Scotty’s Mad About Meats and Hairganics, which had more than a metre of water rush through the salon, were also damaged.
Sam and Greg Meek, the owners of Obsessive Coffee Dispensary, said the storm drains in the area simply couldn’t cope and questions would need to be asked of the council in coming days.
“Everything, including our stock, is gone,” Mrs Meek said.
“We haven’t had enough rain to cause this damage.
“It comes from the drains.”
The Meek’s business backs onto the area around the Pialba skate park, where large drains are just metres away.
Shattered Baker’s Delight franchisee Maurice Maddock, who in October last year spent $250,000 refurbishing the store said he wouldn’t know whether his equipment was ruined until the power came back on.
“That was a phenomenal amount of rain,” he said.
“I’ve been here for 22 years and never seen that.”
That sentiment was shared by long-time locals who could not recall a natural disaster having so much of an impact on the city since the 1992 floods.
Looking out at Margaret St where residents could be seen wading through knee to waist deep water and even catching live fish as they jumped from overflowing drains, Kathy Photios said she had feared losing her home as floodwaters approached her door on Sunday morning.
“It came right through our front yard and was only a couple of centimetres off our front door,” she said.
She was “very frustrated” by the lack of sandbags available during the day after loads of sandbags were sent to southern councils where the worst of the weather caused by ex-tropical cyclone Alfred was expected.
“We’ve asked for sandbags but they haven’t come,” she said.
“I was really anxious.
“The SES said they were hopeful to get some out to our place, but we haven’t seen any sign of them.”
Ms Photios, who’s been through cyclones in northern Qld, said she has never experienced anything like this in Hervey Bay.
“This is just horrific.”
Her grandson Jayden Nicol however was making the most of the temporary waterpark outside, chasing fish while looking out for snakes which had been spotted by neighbours.
The spectacle also drew adventure seekers to the Seafront Oval which had turned into a lake with teens seen barefoot waterskiing on the same patch where major community events, festivals and Carols by Candlelight are traditional held.
As of Sunday afternoon, nearly all supermarkets, pubs, fast food chains and cafes remained closed across town while SES workers could be seen doorknocking homes in low-lying areas which had been worst hit.
Torquay Terrace resident John Tallon said three units in his low-lying street were evacuated due to the rushing water.
“I was ready to pack my cat and the car up, and head up to the safe area, but we haven’t had to do that,” he said.
“It’s never been anything like this since I’ve been here.
“Even talking to long-term residents, they’ve never seen anything like this.”
Flooded in at her home in Urangan, Danielle Askew watched the floodwaters rise on Sunday morning, leaving her car inundated.
“I knew we would get some rain from the cyclone but never imagined it would flood,” she said.
“My car is under water, so are the cars parked on the street.”
Ms Askew said this was the worst flood event she had witnessed, but a friend said she had experienced severe flooding in Hervey Bay in the ‘90s.
Ms Askew said she had seen garden edgings, bins and other things floating around, describing the floodwaters as “dangerous”.
Other residents saw an opportunity for some ‘fun’, including one heavily pregnant mum who came up with a quirky idea – why not get some maternity photos in the floodwaters?
The Eli Waters mum is expecting her second baby in 12 months and said when she woke up to the humidity with a ready-made body of water in her front yard, she thought it would be fun to take a quick dip – and make some memories.
“I thought it would be a great memory for the babies,” she said.
Jasmyne said she and her family were now safely inside their home waiting for the weather event to pass.
Meanwhile, other residents took the opportunity to go fishing during the weather.
Margaret St resident Alastair Nicol caught a tilapia with his bare hands when he saw it swim out of a flooded drain near his home.
He also said he’d seen another person catch a “big fish” from the drains earlier in the morning.
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Originally published as Hervey Bay floods: Residents vow to rebuild after storm slams regional city
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