Thargomindah resembles as ‘war zone’, locals recall destructive floodwaters that broke outback town’s levee

ABC NEWS (Australia)

Businesses in the state’s west are estimating the bill from flood damage could be in the millions. Residents in Thargomindah are still cleaning up mud and debris saying the sight of inundation is ‘etched’ into locals’ minds.

Transcript

00:00It's been two weeks since Bloodwater ripped through his trade services business, but Jeff

00:08Pike won't forget when a temporary levy failed, the wall of water threatened all in its path.

00:14It's a gut-wrenching feeling knowing that your friends are in this situation where you

00:19don't know how that's going to pan out. Oh my god. I'll never ever forget it. Never ever

00:24forget it. The result, complete inundation, the impact laid bare. As a visual imprint it

00:30feels like a dead-set war zone. Mud cakes the floors of office buildings where

00:36paperwork and furniture has turned to debris. What do you do? How do you deal with that?

00:42The damage bill is rising. Close to a mill I'd reckon. It's probably what we've done.

00:47And you're not insured here are you? We're not insured, no. In town, mud is being

00:53cleaned from homes. A lifetime of belongings put out to dry. A flood, when it goes

00:59through your house only 23 centimetres, becomes very personal. It looks bloody

01:02terrible but it is drying out nicely. Donna Humphreys had water through her home and

01:07business. In her backyard, a storage container with wedding pictures in a

01:12football jersey that belonged to her late son, all completely soaked. But she

01:18counts herself lucky. But I do know that there are, you know, there are people that have lost everything.

01:22Locals were racing against the clock three weeks ago to construct the levee behind me but it

01:28was no match for the torrent of flood waters that hit Thargaminda. It's being torn down but

01:34with kilometres of dirt to be removed, it's a process that's going to take days. In this

01:40recovery will be more than two years.

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