Beavis Family Storm Appeal

The Beavis Family lost everything during the weather event early Saturday morning on 6 April 2024 which then inundated their home with storm water in Figtree NSW.

Kealsie was trapped in her home with her 2 kids (3yr old and 1yr old) with dog Frankie early Saturday morning while her husband Joel was at work in Sydney. They were ankle deep in storm water in the home before the creek near them broke. The family was thankfully rescued by the Mt Keira Rural Fire Service and everyone is safe.

Currently their home is inhabitable and they are in temporary accommodation. Not only does the house have to be structurally repaired all contents also need to be replaced, they have lost everything including; fridges, washing machine and dryer, beds, lounges, tvs, kids toys, all Joel’s tools and gardening equipment. Kealsie’s car was also destroyed in this event. Whilst we have tried to salvage what could be saved, so many items have been lost.

Now the clean up and rebuilding process has to begin, if you can please donate to help get the Beavis family back in their home, any amount is greatly appreciated.

Your generosity means the world to us.

You can read more about their story in the Illawarra Mercury article published April 9, 2024 below:

Terrifying moments as Figtree mum hands kids over in raging floodwaters

Illawarra Mercury

April 9, 2024 Tuesday

Print & Internet Editions - Copyright 2024 Illawarra Newspapers Holding Pty Ltd All Rights Reserved

By: Nadine Morton

It was pitch black and chest-high floodwaters were making dangerous rapids outside Kealsie Beavis' home. A car floated by before slamming into a house.

Standing at her front door clutching her baby in one arm, Ms Beavis used the other arm to pass over her three-year-old son to a man in the darkness as he fought to stay upright as the raging water churned around him.

Her son looked back at her as he was taken into the darkness, his rescuer had to hold tight to a rope tied to a telegraph pole across the road as the floodwaters threatened to take them both down.

Later another rescuer appeared at her Arrow Avenue home in Figtree and took her dog to safety. Finally, the man who had taken her son came back to rescue her daughter.

"I was terrified ... letting both your children go is really hard and really scary," she said amid a flood of tears.

"Then it was just me, I didn't want anyone else to be in danger. I said 'don't put yourself in danger to try and get to me'. I couldn't live with someone else being hurt."

Waking to water, everywhere

Kealsie has lived in Arrow Avenue since 2016 with husband Joel, their children Theodore, aged three, and Addison, aged one, and dog Frankie.

While her yard, shed and front steps have flooded a little during previous weather events when the nearby Byarong Creek burst its banks, nothing prepared her for the terror she witnessed on Saturday, April 8.

Addison woke around 5.30am and when Kealsie looked outside there was heavy rain and only a little bit of water on top of the grass.

By 5.45am the water was up to the home's second step, a few minutes later it was ankle-deep inside the family's home.

Her neighbour and Rural Fire Service volunteer Nick van Tol told her "get inside, shut the door, keep the kids safe". So she did.

She bundled Theodore and dog Frankie onto the kitchen bench as she clutched Addison tight.

"When he was sitting on the kitchen bench he was watching his toys float past and he was 'oh we were looking for that yesterday mummy'," Kealsie said.

"At the peak of it I was knee-deep in the kitchen and being told no-one could get to me."

Husband Joel had left for work in Sydney at 3am and he was calling trying to help, but he was two hours away.

"I was here by myself with my two kids and I couldn't see anything because I'd shut up everything," she said.

"It was really heartbreaking, I was trying to be a really strong mum and be calm, but I was really panicking and trying not to show my panic."

Suddenly, her neighbour Nick knocked on her front door. Kealsie passed Theodore to him to be rescued.

Another rescuer came and got Frankie the dog, then Addison was passed over to Nick.

Each time Nick walked away with her children he was in chest-deep water. Step by tiny step he held onto that rope attached to a telegraph pole opposite her home.

It was still dark outside and cars were rushing by in the floodwaters, threatening to knock them both over in the churning, debris filled mess.

"All Theodore was worried about was getting his toes wet," Mr van Tol told the Mercury the next day.

A family reunited

When Kealsie was rescued and she was reunited with her children, Theodore was excited.

"He was just really excited to see the fire trucks and the lights and the sirens.

Along with her neighbours, they'd gathered on the high side of Bellevue Road. It was only 110 metres from the Beavis family home, but the journey there could have easily cost one of their lives.

The big flood clean up

When Kealsie fled her home she carried only a nappy bag, everything else was left behind.

The water went down almost as quickly as it rose and Arrow Avenue was left a muddy, sodden mess with debris and smashed cars making it look like a scene in a third-world country.

Addison doesn't really understand what happened, but three-year-old Theodore has "lots and lots of questions".

The water and mud has seeped into most of their possessions, the electricals - oven, dishwasher, fridge, washing machine and TV - are ruined.

They've been able to dry out some stuff, but most of their possessions now sit ruined in the park opposite their home.

"Lots of things have been damaged, but that can all be replaced, I'm not worried about that. Everything's replaceable but we are not, we're safe and that's the main thing," Kealsie said.

Kealsie's sister Bonnie has been helping clean out the home, the carpet has been ripped out a lot of the mud has now been shovelled out.

A friend scooped mud out of their lawns and driveway for hours, and other neighbours have been there too.

On Sunday, firefighters from Corrimal spent the day helping to clean the mud and debris up Arrow Avenue.

As Nick continued cleaning mud and debris out of his own home he remained calm and humble, after all as an RFS member emergencies are what he trains for.

"It's a fantastic street, it always has been. Everyone's just been making sure they're getting on with it ok," he said

Kealsie agrees, she's not going anywhere.

"I love where I live. It's a very lovely community and it's got a very good community feel about it and we've got really lovely people surrounding us," she said.

The flood has changed this little street, the neighbours are checking in on each other and by late Sunday afternoon they shared cans of beer amid more tears and hugs as they wonder what to do next.