NZers evacuated in record Bundaberg flooding

  • Breaking
  • 30/01/2013

North of Brisbane, at Bundaberg, the pain of the flooding is being felt the worst. Thousands of residents are still unable to return home, as record flooding still hasn't receded.

Roads into Bundaburg are blocked. Petrol has run out and shopkeepers are hiking prices on bread and milk.

Ten percent of the population is affected.

Five days on from the worst flooding in Bundaberg on record, and some suburbs are still completely submerged.

New Zealander Tyson Hepi fled his home four days ago. He can't get back and doesn't know how badly his house is damaged. He has heard rumours it's underwater.

“If we could have some visual just to see what's going on, just to see how bad it really is or if my house is still standing or if my furniture is out the window and floating around,” says Mr Hepi.

He doesn't expect to return until at least the weekend. The floods there two years ago were nothing on this - then, his house was untouched.

“I remember telling my kids, ‘This is a once in a lifetime event; we'll never be in a flood again,’" Mr Hepi says. "And two years later, here we are.”

The not knowing is the hardest part.

“My dog's over there somewhere, the kids’ dog. After losing everything else it would be good if they had their pet."

Roads into Bundaberg are impassable and petrol supplies have run out.

3 News found Kiwi Matt Cox racing to fill his tank with the last that's available. He lost almost everything he owns when his trimaran filled with water.

“We talked the situation to death from Friday afternoon onwards, and all the locals, the trawler man, everyone said ‘no, you'll be all right’,” says Mr Cox.

He and wife had just left their jobs to sail around Australia.

“My boat, a trimaran, is uninsurable. It's my home. We sailed over here from New Zealand and everything, everything is on it."

As if people here haven't suffered enough, there's now the added stress of keeping looters away.

“They possibly didn't get hit but if they did, why go and get more stuff from people who have been here? These people have pretty much lost everything they own, so why do this?” asks Bundaberg resident Rebecca Ramage.

It's expected to be days before some get home, and many are dreading what they might find.

3 News

source: newshub archive