11 January 2013

Quiet commemorations for flood anniversary


Communities affected by south east Queensland's deadly floods two years ago say they are still on the road to recovery.

Flash flooding after heavy rainfall claimed the lives of 20 people in Toowoomba and the Lockyer Valley.

Private ceremonies are being held in Grantham, Murphy's Creek and Postman's Ridge today to commemorate the second anniversary.

Norman Fry was Toowoomba Regional Council's Disaster Management Co-ordinator during the disaster.

He say many lessons have been learned during the response and recovery.

"You learn to do things in a more effective way and a more efficient way but I think the biggest thing was the organisation of response and recovery," he said.

"The recovery phases actually started at the time of the response as you can imagine getting people back to their normal lives, getting communities back to their normal lives.

The floods swept away homes, bridges and roads and some people in the Lockyer Valley are still waiting to rebuild.

The Federal Emergency Services Minister Nicola Roxon is touring the region and spent the morning meeting SES volunteers and counsellors in Toowoomba.

She has praised their efforts and says a lot more work needs to be done.

"I think the recovery work has gone extremely well," Ms Roxon said.

"It is a big piece of work and we just urge people to keep focussed on trying to complete that work for the benefit of the community."

Ms Roxon will also visit flood-affected residents and inspect rebuilding efforts.

Murphys Creek Pastor Rob Farr says today's ceremonies will be low key.

"There are a number of people who simply want to say they don't want to be reminded about this terrible event every year in such a public fashion," he said.

He says some people still struggle with what happened."Not just in the emotional sense but also physically there are some people who are finding it difficult to rebuild their lives as a result," Pastor Farr said.

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10.1.13