Please Help These flood Affected Families

I am raising funds to help these severely affected families. These families had to evacuate their homes when catastrophic floods ripped through East Coraki.

Losing everything, their homes and contents, belongings, and cars.

I am trying to raise funds to help three families rebuild their lives after receiving no government funding. Like many, still displaced.

All the money raised will go straight to these families' allocated accounts. 

This is the account of one of the seven people I am raising money for

https://www.mamamia.com.au/flood-victim-easter-tourists/

Within hours of being home we were completely flooded in by surrounding Roads, all the while in the house trying to put everything up as high as we could in our 2-story home.

Having an extremely restless night with the water getting hirer and hirer, by 3 pm the next day (28th Feb 2022) the water had risen to the second story and was lapping into the house, at this stage we had three couples, a 2yr old and myself, taking refuge, as this was the safe house and had never flooded into the second story in the history of the house.

By 4pm that same day we had to quickly run around the house trying to gather 2cats, 2 kittens, 2 dogs, the baby, 7 adults and the essentials we would need and put them on the kitchen table, trying not to panic as the water was up to our knees inside our home at this point.

Realising the water was rising exceptionally quickly and we could not stay inside the house for much longer, our only option was the roof. We looked for access to the roof as the front and back doors could not be opened with the water levels at that time.

Luckily, we found a window that gave us access to the carport, from there we would be able to climb up on the roof of the house. With only the clothes we were wearing, through the window we passed the baby, 2 dogs, 2 cats, 2 kittens, 7 adults, and climbed onto the carport roof then up onto a very angled corrugated iron roof one at a time. We had to take our shoes off as they were very slippery and the roof being so steep and angled, we could not hang on. We needed to climb to the back of the house where the was a small, corrugated veranda roof that was flatter and much safer. Unfortunately, several of us slid and cutting ourselves on the corrugated iron in the ordeal. All the while in the heavy rains and flood waters surrounded us, but we managed to get all, including pets to the back. Scared, wet, hearts pumping, the men went back into the house full of water and pulled from it a tarp, a couple of camp chairs, a small esky and milk for the baby. We desperately needed some sort of shelter, especially for the baby from the weather. We had no idea how long we would be up on the roof.

From 4 pm 28th Feb 2022 we started calling 000 and emergency SES lines for someone to save us to no avail, they were to be congested with calls, continuing to call for hours. With our phones running flat, we had to contact friends on social media to keep fighting for us, as we had to preserve the last of our batteries. At this stage it was sheer panic no one would find us and the waters would engulf us. Finally, and sadly getting a message 5hrs later around 9pm that unfortunately the 1 helicopter and 1 boat had stopped at 6pm for the night as it was too dangerous at night to continue, and we were not going to be rescued until the next day. The waters were much too dangerous. As I was told later there was only one SES boat trying to save hundreds. Even though friends wanted to risk their lives to get to us and as I believe did try but violent moving flood waters stopped them in fear of endangering their own lives.

Cold, wet, scared, huddled together and hanging on the roof the boys stood watch all night as we had several snakes crawl onto the roof trying to get out of flood waters, along with every creepy crawly known to mankind, we had 100s of mosquito bites. Cuts, bruises and most probably hypothermia.

We could not see anything as it was pitch black through the night although as we huddled in the rain, cold and darkness we could here cows screaming and drowning throughout the night… along with other animals all around us.

After a couple of days all together and 16hrs of that on a roof, with flood waters rushing past at scary speeds, not knowing if we were going to be saved approx. 8.30 am on Tues 1st March 2022, we were so happy to see an SES boat pull straight up on our roof, we thought we were saved.

They took us to the nearest island at Coraki, only to realised we were not saved, there we had no medical attention, no blankets, no water, no food, no shelter, no electricity, no phone service, dropped in just the wet flood-soaked cloths we had on our backs with no shoes… and no one to guide us.

The church was doing the best they could as an evac centre, although we were all cut off from everything still, we were in the exact same potion, just not on a roof. The elderly, children and young families filled the church. There was nowhere for us to go except to sit on the concrete foot path and try to dry out in the sun, we went from hyperthermia to being burnt as there was no shade either.

After a couple days of being on the island, we still had not eaten, there was just not enough food, water, blankets, shelter to go around, despite local community trying their best.

A local young couple offered myself my daughter and another 3 people shelter in their home, however, to get to their home we had to walk through waist high flood water for approx. 200metres the current was incredibly strong, on the first attempt I had to retreat, the second attempt I had two people on either side of me helping me walk across successfully, pulling me against the current, and finally that night had a small meal with what little food they had. At this stage we had not eaten or drank water for nearly 3 days.

Fighting to survive ourselves and helping as many as we could, with no electricity, phone or internet, no food or little food and water, no blankets, no shelter, no medical, no showers or cloths or shoes It was not until the following Sunday 6th march that supplies started to roll in.

This was not the end, as soon as the water receded enough, even with the overwhelming amount of trauma, malnourished, in desperate need of medical attention and rest, it was straight into days of clean up trying to salvage and clean out our home, helping others with their homes and businesses with no or little help from the outside world.

When my daughter could finally access the house on the 10th of March 2022 In which I discovered that nothing could be salvaged losing all our household appliances, furnishings, electrical, clothes, business equipment (as I had an entertainment business/mobile DJ), tools, camping, sentimental items, photos, documents, my dentures, glasses, medical aids and equipment. My car after being in 15ft of flood water with a pole speared through the front into the radiator right through was also unsalvagable.

Collectively we have lost three homes, all furnishings and belongings, 5 cars.