One year after the devastation of the ex-Tropical Cyclone Jasper flooding event, Rossville residents Viola and Brad Smith are celebrating once again having running water in their house. Photo: Supplied.
Running water is a basic necessity most take for granted in 2024, but for one couple who became Tropical Cyclone Jasper flood victims, it was a household fundamental they have been without for almost a year as they dealt with the aftermath of the catastrophe.
After communities in south-eastern Cape York were devastated by the mass flood event of December 2023, it was another 358 days before Rossville residents Brad and Viola Smith had water running through their taps once again.
“It’s so ironic that it’s water that caused the devastation, and it’s one of the last things that you think you’d be grateful for,” Mr Smith said.
“After everything, there’s nothing quite like turning on the tap and having fresh water coming through, and being able to drink it and watch it go down the drain back into your greywater system.”
Mr Smith said he and his wife were still deep in the process of cleaning and rebuilding, with about 40 per cent of the property still unliveable 12 months on.
“We’re not finished, we’re far from it; it’s been an exhausting process of rebuilding,” he said.
“It’s quite different to when you build new and you’ve got intent and vision and excitement, but when you’re rebuilding after something like this, you’ve got trepidation of if it’s going to flood again or what the future holds.”
In the midst of a long and tiring recovery journey, Ms Smith said the couple was thankful for the support from Cook Shire Council, the State Government’s disaster support and recovery team, and the local community.
“At the start, it was community members helping each other out to remove mud; people were coming from the local fire brigade, and there were community members from Cooktown who did hardcore work helping us – it was just chaos in the beginning, and we weren’t sure if anyone was going to help us,” she told Cape York Weekly as she reflected on the one-year anniversary of the disaster.
“We and six other landowners from Rossville had a meeting with Cook Shire Council in April; they applied for extraordinary disaster management funds and, with that, were able to establish a clean-up project for landowners who needed it.
“They removed sand, they re-established drainage, and made gigantic burn piles which had to be burned slowly, so in case of another flood, there would not be all this timber floating towards our houses.
“The other huge help was the Queensland Government community recovery – they basically started putting out grants for people who needed structural repairs for their houses, so we could get water and power up and running again.”
With support from community members, the Cook Shire Council and State Government, Mr and Mrs Smith said their house is no longer inundated with mud after a mammoth clean-up effort in the months following the disaster. Photo: Supplied.
Despite an unsure first few months, slowly but surely, help came, and the pair are now celebrating running water after living out of a Department of Housing and Public Works caravan for the past 12 months.
“As we’ve progressed through sections of the house, we’ve been able to at least sleep inside, but toilet, showering and cooking is all still in the caravan, but hopefully not for much longer,” Mr Smith said.
“It’s wonderful to be able to actually turn the tap on in the house and have a drink, instead of going to the caravan and doing it all in a very small space.
“We had thought about buying a new caravan before all of this happened, but I don’t think we’ll be doing a lap around Australia in a caravan anymore, that’s for sure.”
The looming wet season brings with it many worries, and Mr Smith said they were being extra cautious.
“All of the colleagues and experts I’ve spoken to about the probability of that sort of rainfall happening again have said that it’s a high chance it won’t happen – that’s it’s going to take another 100 years or 200 years to get another event like this,” he said.
“We’re watching the weather a lot more than we used to, and if there’s a cyclone coming, we’ll go to Cooktown; we’ll just get out of here, we’re not going to be caught again.”
On 13 December, the federal and state governments announced $206 million in long-term disaster funding for Far North Queensland communities hit hardest by Tropical Cyclone Jasper, including a $13.9m targeted assistance package for Wujal Wujal, and $61.2m to repair and upgrade water and sewerage infrastructure for impacted councils.
In this trying time, Ms Smith said they were thinking of their fellow community members who were also deeply affected.
“We just want to thank everyone, council and community members, who have been helping us out through this difficult time,” she said.
“Other people are still struggling as well, we are not the only ones; there are so many others in Degarra and Bloomfield and other affected areas who all have these same anxieties.”
With memories still fresh and clean-up efforts far from over for many south-eastern Cape York residents, a new wet season is bringing worry to communities impacted by the December 2023 extreme weather event. Photo: Supplied.
