www.TheAustralian.com.au
10.1.13
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| Kenley and Frances Arndt at their new house in Grantham. |
KENLEY and Frances Arndt have a heartfelt and hard-won message for the victims of this summer's bushfire disasters: you will get through it.
It's two years to the day since they were forced to take to a tree to survive the flash flood that churned through their hometown of Grantham in southeast Queensland's Lockyer Valley, killing their neighbours and too many other good people.
Now, as they follow with sympathy the fiery destruction unfolding in Tasmania, NSW and Victoria, they are counting their many blessings.
A garden that is back in robust bloom; a restored home; the courage of their conviction to rebuild their life together in Grantham.
"It does take time, things can be slow, but it happens," Mrs Arndt told The Australian yesterday. "We were given a second chance so we needed to make the most of it."
Fellow flood survivor Kathy Mahon, 59, re-established in a new house on high ground, shares their dogged hope for the better. "You just have to look forward," she said. "If you don't look forward, you'll be stuck there."
Twelve people died in Grantham when "inland tsunamis" blasted through range-top Toowoomba and the Lockyer Valley, west of Brisbane, claiming 22 lives, on January 10, 2011.
In the following days, more than 17,000 homes and business premises went under in Ipswich and Brisbane. Queensland's "summer of sorrow" had begun in central and southern Queensland earlier and extended into February, when category-5 Cyclone Yasi carved a path of destruction through the state's far north, pushing the combined damage bill to more than $7.5 billion.
Mrs Arndt said she and her 74-year-old husband would today be thinking of that horror-filled day in Grantham two years ago and those who did not survive it.
The couple spent three hours clinging to the branches of a leopard tree, at times neck-deep in swirling water, before being plucked to safety by a rescue helicopter.
Later, they learned that their next-door neighbours, Llync-Chainn Clarke-Jibson, 32, and two children, Garry Jibson, 12, and Jocelyn Jibson, 5, were among those who had perished.
"It's going to be a sad day," Mrs Arndt said of the flood anniversary, "but now we're living in our own home again. It has taken us that long to get on track again.
"We're quite happy; we're one of the lucky ones."
The couple fought for the right to rebuild and replant on the low-lying block that had been their life for more than two decades after authorities decreed that the land was too vulnerable and pushed them to relocate to higher ground.
Not for them, the Arndts said. They moved in with relatives and then set up temporary home in a metal-skinned donga. It took until last June to get back into the house that had been wrecked by the floodwaters. Not only does the house have a new veranda, their pride and joy of the garden has been restored, thanks to countless hours of effort. Banana and mango trees burst with fruit in the backyard.
Mr Arndt said a big sticking point for them to move to the new estate, which is taking shape on the hillside a few minutes drive north of the original township, was the poor quality of the soil.
Besides, he said, the flash floods of January 10 would never come again. "It was an inland tsunami," he said. "You think big rainfall, you think Cairns or New Guinea or something - not here."
Over on the new side of town, the new homes dotting the hillside are steadily filling up. Residents took part in a ballot for the blocks to move to higher ground.
More than 70 per cent got their first choice, including Mrs Mahon and her husband, John, 57. They moved into their new home just before Christmas.
"We think we're on holidays at the moment and someone is going to come and say it's time to leave," Mrs Mahon said. "We're extremely happy with it."
Still, the memories of January 10, 2011, linger. The Mahons, their two adult daughters and two grandsons, aged 3 and 5, said the Lord's Prayer and farewelled each other as the water rose to their chests. It was only when a glass door burst they were able to escape out to the roof, to be rescued.
Queensland Reconstruction Authority chief Dick Wilson said 10,000 active worksites were still under way across Queensland.
"There has been good progress achieved but we need to continue to build that momentum," Major General Wilson said.
He said the Lockyer Valley was one of the worst-affected areas across Queensland and praised local authorities for their innovative handling of the disaster, especially the land swap.
General Wilson said that the initial recovery phase was completed last July.
"Then we went into the long, hard grind of reconstruction."
KENLEY and Frances Arndt have a heartfelt and hard-won message for the victims of this summer's bushfire disasters: you will get through it.
It's two years to the day since they were forced to take to a tree to survive the flash flood that churned through their hometown of Grantham in southeast Queensland's Lockyer Valley, killing their neighbours and too many other good people.
Now, as they follow with sympathy the fiery destruction unfolding in Tasmania, NSW and Victoria, they are counting their many blessings.
A garden that is back in robust bloom; a restored home; the courage of their conviction to rebuild their life together in Grantham.
"It does take time, things can be slow, but it happens," Mrs Arndt told The Australian yesterday. "We were given a second chance so we needed to make the most of it."
Fellow flood survivor Kathy Mahon, 59, re-established in a new house on high ground, shares their dogged hope for the better. "You just have to look forward," she said. "If you don't look forward, you'll be stuck there."
Twelve people died in Grantham when "inland tsunamis" blasted through range-top Toowoomba and the Lockyer Valley, west of Brisbane, claiming 22 lives, on January 10, 2011.
In the following days, more than 17,000 homes and business premises went under in Ipswich and Brisbane. Queensland's "summer of sorrow" had begun in central and southern Queensland earlier and extended into February, when category-5 Cyclone Yasi carved a path of destruction through the state's far north, pushing the combined damage bill to more than $7.5 billion.
Mrs Arndt said she and her 74-year-old husband would today be thinking of that horror-filled day in Grantham two years ago and those who did not survive it.
The couple spent three hours clinging to the branches of a leopard tree, at times neck-deep in swirling water, before being plucked to safety by a rescue helicopter.
Later, they learned that their next-door neighbours, Llync-Chainn Clarke-Jibson, 32, and two children, Garry Jibson, 12, and Jocelyn Jibson, 5, were among those who had perished.
"It's going to be a sad day," Mrs Arndt said of the flood anniversary, "but now we're living in our own home again. It has taken us that long to get on track again.
"We're quite happy; we're one of the lucky ones."
The couple fought for the right to rebuild and replant on the low-lying block that had been their life for more than two decades after authorities decreed that the land was too vulnerable and pushed them to relocate to higher ground.
Not for them, the Arndts said. They moved in with relatives and then set up temporary home in a metal-skinned donga. It took until last June to get back into the house that had been wrecked by the floodwaters. Not only does the house have a new veranda, their pride and joy of the garden has been restored, thanks to countless hours of effort. Banana and mango trees burst with fruit in the backyard.
Mr Arndt said a big sticking point for them to move to the new estate, which is taking shape on the hillside a few minutes drive north of the original township, was the poor quality of the soil.
Besides, he said, the flash floods of January 10 would never come again. "It was an inland tsunami," he said. "You think big rainfall, you think Cairns or New Guinea or something - not here."
Over on the new side of town, the new homes dotting the hillside are steadily filling up. Residents took part in a ballot for the blocks to move to higher ground.
More than 70 per cent got their first choice, including Mrs Mahon and her husband, John, 57. They moved into their new home just before Christmas.
"We think we're on holidays at the moment and someone is going to come and say it's time to leave," Mrs Mahon said. "We're extremely happy with it."
Still, the memories of January 10, 2011, linger. The Mahons, their two adult daughters and two grandsons, aged 3 and 5, said the Lord's Prayer and farewelled each other as the water rose to their chests. It was only when a glass door burst they were able to escape out to the roof, to be rescued.
Queensland Reconstruction Authority chief Dick Wilson said 10,000 active worksites were still under way across Queensland.
"There has been good progress achieved but we need to continue to build that momentum," Major General Wilson said.
He said the Lockyer Valley was one of the worst-affected areas across Queensland and praised local authorities for their innovative handling of the disaster, especially the land swap.
General Wilson said that the initial recovery phase was completed last July.
"Then we went into the long, hard grind of reconstruction."
www.TheAustralian.com.au
10.1.13
