Murwillumbah Floods

Story by Jon Thomas | Images by Carin Garland

Resilience can be defined as “the capacity to recover quickly from difficulties; toughness.” This was widespread during the February 2022 flooding in Murwillumbah and surrounding Northern Rivers communities, who endured a disastrous flood event. As communities banded together in supporting the recovery efforts our beloved Northern Rivers experienced a second flood in as many weeks. Left isolated and with extensive damage, locals faced a long and arduous recovery, from not just one, but two floods. Not to be defeated, you could still find a smiling face amongst the mud and debris.

The last few years hit our communities with a myriad of challenges from droughts, bushfires, pandemic, state borders closures and floods. Without a doubt, we have all felt the impacts of these events and navigated the unwanted challenges, which is what gives me a great amount of respect for the empathetic and positive attitudes I saw from so many in what was an overwhelming and back breaking flood event. If you haven’t experienced the impacts of floods or natural disaster, it can be quite foreign to comprehend the experience and understand how best to support those that have. Personally, while the sounds, sight and feeling of watching the flood waters inundate our family home will stay with me, it was the amount of people who reached out to offer us help that is something I will never forget. Our ability to just ‘be there’ for people is one of our greatest actions. For many people, young and old, these experiences can leave long lasting trauma, anxiety and stresses as we all process and deal with the various emotions differently. Which is a timely reminder to lend an ear and check in on people, even months down the track.

On the evening of February 27th, like many others I returned home to prepare for a major flood event that was forecasted to be ‘at or below the 2017 flood level.” For Murwillumbah, at that time, March 2017 was the worst recorded flood and the current bench mark for preparations. By Monday February 28th flood waters had surpassed the 2017 levels and would continue to rise above forecasted levels, breaking all records and leaving many families, businesses and community members devastated. The Murwillumbah town levee of 6.3m would be topped, exposing areas of the CBD to inundation while surrounding areas would experience landslides, road failures and major infrastructure damages with some repairs quoted in excess of two years.

At the height of the event, local evacuation centres would take in hundreds of residents, elderly and animals in what was a major logistical challenge. Emergency services would work around the clock to manage an overwhelming amount of 000 calls for help while many of our local first responders, who were also affected, would leave their flood impacted homes, businesses and families to render assistance to their communities.

In the days that followed as the flood waters receded, civilians, volunteers and emergency services would continue to provide support to their communities and help where they could with many people multitasking day and night. This epitomises the community spirit, with many people wearing many hats to help each other and embodying the quintessential Australian spirit.

When road access was returned, Murwillumbah and surrounding areas had an influx of volunteers from an array of places including Queensland, Scenic Rim and beyond, along with the deployment of the Australian Defence Force. There was a volunteer hub setup opposite Knox Park that coordinated the civilian volunteer efforts and donations, while many other community groups opened their doors. There was an incredible amount of genuine empathy, with ordinary humans doing extraordinary things. There are many stories of kind people driving around and giving out cooked meals, clothes and medication. While some chose to help people clean their homes, remove debris and mud, others simply lended an ear and offered support or a place to sleep.

As many residents will say, the recovery from these events takes time, months or years. Not every person, family or business will fully recover, nor do some have the luxury of time or age. The many hardships do take their toll both physically, emotionally and financially. However for many, this is home.

Murwillumbah is a historical town resting on Bundjalung country split by the Tweed River with it’s beautiful Wollumbin back drop. If you are looking to have a local getaway in a neighbouring area, while also supporting recovering industries, many a local business would appreciate and welcome your support.