One year on from Western Australia’s worst flood event on record, Fitzroy Valley residents and those who provided ground support reflect on the devastation left in its wake.
Ex-Tropical Cyclone Ellie’s arrival in the Kimberley at the beginning of 2023 saw record rain dumped along the Fitzroy River catchment.
The deluge triggered flooding in the small town of Fitzroy Crossing, surrounding pastoral stations and Aboriginal communities.
The state’s worst recorded floods destroyed homes, businesses and crucial trade routes across the valley with about 240 properties damaged and more than 1,500 people evacuated.
One of them was Camille McClymont who, alongside her husband and their one-year-old child, was airlifted from her home at Kalyeeda station.
In the hours before evacuation, her ears were filled with the distressed calls of cattle as they were swept past in the swollen Fitzroy River.
“We were just hearing these animals and there was nothing we could do about it, they were helpless,” she said.
The McClymont family prepare each year for wet season floods at Kalyeeda, but the volume of water they faced in early 2023 was unlike anything they had seen before.
“I woke up early and saw the water at our homestead fence sign and that’s when I started to worry because that had never happened [before], plus the speed at which it had come up,” Ms McClymont said.
In a statement, a spokesperson from the WA Department of Primary Industries and Regional Development said applications for the recovery grants were open until June 2024.
“The state and Commonwealth governments have provided financial assistance over the past year to support primary producers affected by the Fitzroy flood through the Disaster Recovery Funding Arrangements,” they said.
“The DRFA has also funded a dedicated pastoral recovery officer to work closely with the pastoralists affected by the flood.”
Feeling ‘forgotten’ in the wake
When the McClymont family returned to Kalyeeda station, they were faced with the financial burden of lost cattle, destroyed fences and water-logged stockfeed.
“We haven’t actually received any [government] funding as of yet,” she said.
“It felt like a really isolating process [to seek out government grants] and there just wasn’t the information, [we thought] ‘where are we supposed to go?’,” she said.
As one of the few family-run stations in the Kimberley, they felt the lack of support keenly.
Immediate flood-recovery fencing delayed their beef operations in 2023 by months, meaning they weren’t able to sell as many cattle as usual.
“I don’t think people realise how much this has actually cost us, and that those costs are going to keep going,” she said.
“And we are not a big corporation or company, so that does really affect us.”
‘A sense of disbelief’
Long-term Fitzroy Crossing resident Geoff Davis was at his family home when the flooding began last January.
He watched the water rise from his decking, about 150 metres from the river’s edge.
Mr Davis said community members were stunned to see areas never previously inundated by floods, go underwater.
“Bungardi, Darlgunaya, Buruwa, Junjuwa … those communities that were on low-level land had the flood go in maybe a metre or two through their houses,” he said.
“Those first three or four days in January people were just stunned, it was sort of almost like a sense of disbelief.”
‘Alarming’ alcohol, drug issues remain
Soon after flood waters receded, community members raised concern that alcohol and drug issues were worsening.
Mr Davis said the “alarming” issue remained a year on and had been “hidden” by the weather event.
“There’s a lot less to do because the work is sort of dried up to a certain extent … a lot of the social emotional wellbeing issues need to be tackled to try and take advantage of the kickstart that the excitement and extra money that was poured into this community by the building of the bridge,” he said.
Mr Davis said local people, who hold the knowledge of the area, should lead the continued recovery.
“Outside people who come in and give assistance need to be aware of the nuances I suppose, of how to do things in Fitzroy Crossing most effectively,” he said.
In December, the state government announced 47 temporary accommodation units had been installed for flood-impacted families ahead of Christmas, who had previously lived in emergency containers designed for short-term use, throughout the year.
Mr Davis said the flood brought the town’s housing issues to the surface, as some residents continue to live in temporary accommodation or like his own family, now begin the process of demolition and rebuild.
“The flood certainly highlighted that with the 90 or so houses that were damaged or wrecked, there weren’t enough houses in Fitzroy to start with,” he said.
“One would hope that the government says right, we’ve got to fix the housing issue and with that we’ll help some of the social issues that happen.”
Mental burden of flood will ‘linger’
Locum GP Mieke van Driel regularly works in Fitzroy Crossing at a chronic disease clinic, but January’s flood event saw her take on a different role.
Dr van Driel provided medical care for residents at the town’s evacuation centre and later flew to communities like Ngalingkadji and Bungardi to do check-ups and provide medication.
“The only way to get to those communities was by helicopter and as we went along, we collected a team and we had specific kits with all the different things that we needed,” she said.
Dr van Driel said while the physical health impacts of the flood were lower than expected, the mental toll for residents would remain long after the event.
“We had anticipated we’d see a lot more problems with waterborne diseases, diarrhoea, wounds … which you expect when there’s a lot of water and sometimes contaminated water that flows through the streets but we saw very little of that.”
“There’s the different sides of the medical picture and one is the physical health, but there’s always the mental burden that will linger,” she said.
Department of Fire and Emergency Services Kimberley Superintendent Leon Gardiner told the ABC in October recovery personnel had begun to meet with communities to help manage post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) from the flood, throughout the wet season.
“We’ll be working closely with the community recovery team in their outreach activities, to have those conversations with community around what to expect, what the forecast looks like, how best they can prepare themselves and what to do when we do have those weather events,” he said.
Newly skilled locals look for ongoing work
Brenton Makisi moved to Fitzroy Crossing in January and oversaw case management services, employment and Aboriginal housing at the Marra Worra Worra Corporation.
Mr Makisi helped coordinate employment for locals, which included working on the recently completed bridge and said questions remain for workers who want to utilise their new-found skills.
“There’s still a lot of work that needs to be done within the region. We have Department of Communities that are focusing on fixing all the houses that are flood damaged … all services within the valley are looking for more employees,” he said.
“We’re looking to get all these people back to working for those services that are currently here.”
Looking ahead, Mr Makisi said the biggest priority would be to ensure there was continual improvement in the way all services support the community.
“We’re trying to make sure that people don’t feel like they will be left alone, now that the bridge is fixed,” he said.
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