Residents in outback QLD facing challenges four months after flooding

ABC NEWS (Australia)

Four months after record-breaking floods devastated parts of outback Queensland, residents are grappling with the cost of rebuilding. The recovery has been made more challenging by the tyranny of distance and limited accommodation for tradespeople.

Transcript

00:00Returning to her ravaged home is still a painful experience for Megan Riley.

00:07The more you look at it, the more it just upsets you.

00:10When floodwaters reached Thargaminda in April, the town was inundated.

00:15Some of the debris coming down.

00:17Only a handful of homes were left untouched.

00:20You could see the water line and I just knew.

00:23I opened up the door and everything was everywhere.

00:26Four months on, more than 30 families are still living in caravans.

00:31Ms Riley plans to demolish her house and truck in a mobile home as she can't afford to rebuild.

00:38Getting a builder out here and materials to do so is just exorbitant because of the distance.

00:46Local tradesman Jeff Pike has never been busier.

00:50He says the cost of building a home in the outback is almost double the cost of building in the capital.

00:55And even if you can get a tradie, there's nowhere for them to stay.

01:00Limited by beds, so we've brought our own caravans in to accommodate the extra people that we've got.

01:08Mr Pike has organised a portable campsite to be trucked to town to increase the capacity for workers.

01:14It's been a perfect storm for many Thargaminda residents.

01:18Those with insurance have had their flood cover more than double in the past few years, even before the flood.

01:23And those without, left to cover the cost of rebuilding themselves.

01:27Thargaminda's slow restoration could take years.

01:32The painstaking process only made easier by the close-knit bush community.

01:37The help and the community getting together has just been fantastic.

01:42You know, it's just, it's pretty overwhelming.

01:46For Megan Riley, it makes picking up the pieces worth it.

01:51You wouldn't want to live anywhere else.

Category

Transcript

Be the first to comment

Recommended