Toowooba is a picturesque city 127 kilometers west of Brisbane. It is perched on an escarpment on the eastern edge of the Great Dividing Range 700 metres above sea level. It is a garden city with charming gardens, beautiful roses and spectacular historical Queensland homes and is the home of a friend of mine who is happy to have me and my dogs invade her peace. There are exquisite places for lunch, gorgeous little galleries and gift and craft shops to empty your wallet. Beautiful parks abound and the climate is more temperate than Brisbane and a great place to escape when the humidity in Brisbane is crushing.
And so it was to Toowoomba that this little trio embarked on Monday 10th January 2011. The car was packed with everything two spolied dogs and one spoiled owner would need for a couple of days in Toowoomba. Just a quick trip, that's all. As we drove further west, the rain started and then bacame more and more heavy .... torrential. Withcott is a little community at the bottom of the range just before the steep climb to Toowoomba. By the time I reached Withcott, I decided I needed to pull off the road and let the rain pass. I didn't fancy the drive up the range with poor visibility and I was only 10 - 15 minutes from my destination. Little did I know .............
that Toowoomba had received 123 mm of rain in a very short time and was itself experiencing flash flooding. And if a city is perched on top of a range, gravity dictates that amount of water must go down and one of the paths the water took was the channels provided by the engineers of the road up and down the range. And the community right at the bottom of those steep channels is Withcott. And a certain little white car had just parked in the main street in the path of the wall of water. I was just in the process of deciding how to fill my time when I felt the car being buffetted and looked out the window to see water flowing under my car and rising by the split second. S##t! (translation "Oh my goodness. What will I do?") There was no time for considered thought. I spotted a small ramp on the downside of the service station to my right and moved my car there and crossed my fingers and toes as the water rose and thundered through Withcott. After sometime, it occured to me to video what was happening but this was not at the height of the crisis.
I watched a number of things float past. Sadly, the service station that sheltered me lost a couple of bowzers and much of its stock. The ute that belonged to one of the owners was flooded and pushed through the driveway. A blue Merc parked nearby was moved some distance along with the bitumen it was parked on. A small car was picked up by the water and smashed into the side of the road. I didn't really take in too much, I was too busy trying to keep my dogs calm, keep an eye on what was happening around my car and also trying to think positive. And then it was over. Whew! Now what do I do? Ask the people in the know of course so I spoke to a couple of truckies who advised me that the road to Brisbane was cut and the road up the range was cut so we were stuck. One of them suggested that since I was so close to my destination and that all stops would be pulled out to clear a path up the range, I should wait for that to happen.
I joined the queue of about a dozen cars and trucks waiting to go up the range. And my luck continued as I parked behind another very helpful truckie who took myself and another lady under his wing and kept us informed about what to expect. We sat there for ten hours and watched four ambulances go up into the darkness and return. We saw earth moving equipment rumble into the shadows and convoys of trucks make the return trip many times. Police cars were circulating and the rain continued intermittently. In the meantime the dogs needed to be fed, given drinks and a few toilet walks. The local community put on a barbeque at the local school for those who were stranded regardless of the fact that every business in the main street and beyond was caked in mud and a number of houses had been inundated and pushed off their stumps. True hospitality. My stomach wasn't thinking of food so I stayed put. Trying to keep calm, I finished reading "A Tiny Bit Marvelous" by Dawn French and was astounded by the ending. A happy ending - good sign.
All of a sudden we were moving and, in no time at all, at the top of the range. So at about midnight, three very tired creatures parked outside Leigh's house. The light was on and the omelette was ready to cook. But ......
Leigh had her own crisis. Her yard and garage had been flooded. She had lost two side fences, a retaining wall, many things in her garage, numerous prized roses, contents of her garden shed and the water had stopped 2 cm below her front door.
What a day. And my quick trip to Toowoomba turned into a week because the road to Brisbane was so badly damaged by the floods in the Lockyer Valley, in Ipswich and then in Brisbane that it took that time to repair it to a state that cars could use some lanes.
I am one of the luckiest people alive. If I hadn't pulled off the road, I would have been half way up the range when the wall of water rushed down and then maybe I could have been in one of those ambulances. I was lucky to be so close to my eventual shelter. That business has shut it's doors at this point. I was lucky that a ute carried through the driveway was caught on something and stopped because it was heading straight for me. Nothing in my car was damaged or wet. However, Jock was pacing round and round the back seat whimpering and Mandy sat on the front seat looking at me and trembling. I think she has a bit of PTSD but otherwise is fine.
So we all live to pester you another day. Ha Ha! It was one adventure I could live without. The Lockyer Valley was hit heavily in terms of loss of life and property. A tragic, tragic day for many people and my little experience doesn't really figure in the scheme of things.
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The devastation after the storm.
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