Flood that shaped our spirit
WHEN the raging flood waters of the Warrego River finally receded from hundreds of Charleville homes and businesses, it not only left behind a town in muddy ruins, but also unforgettable memories of mateship, survival and resilience in the minds of those who lived through the disaster on April 21, 1990.
“Resilience wasn’t a word thrown around much back then,” Murweh Shire Council Mayor Shaun ‘Zoro’ Radnedge said.
“You would just roll up your sleeves and help as many people can you can.”
On Tuesday, April 20, the Charleville community gathered for a lantern street parade and night markets to kick-off a week of events to mark the 31-year anniversary of when their town on the edge of the Outback succumbed after weeks of torrential rain.
Surging flood waters throughout the day of April 21, 1990, caught locals by surprise, with many forced to seek safety on the roof of their homes or local hotels.
“I was born and bred here and we had never seen anything like it before,” business owner Judey Aiken said.
“We didn’t know what to do, we didn’t have any warnings back in those days.
“Our town had never experienced a flood like that before and we haven’t since.”
Ms Aiken’s business and home, like virtually every other in Charleville, was inundated with floodwaters and took months to clean up and recover.
Thousands of Charleville residents and those living on properties in the region fled to the Charleville airport hangar to seek shelter after the town lost electricity.
Despite the tumultuous disaster-level situation and daring helicopter rescue efforts, there was no loss of life.
Floodwaters carried debris through businesses and wiped out hundreds of homes, an event that Cr Radnedge, who was 20 at the time of the floods, said changed the course of the town’s history forever.
“It shaped Charleville – there was 500 houses demolished,” Cr Radnedge said.
“They were probably houses that were never going to be replaced and it changed the context of how everything went. But the floods also showed the resilience and strength of the community, which still shapes us as who we are today.
“We have lived through disasters, flood, droughts and now even COVID, but the mood of the community since 1990 is we will get through it.”
RECOVERY:
When the floodwaters engulfed Charleville, 20-yearold Cr Radnedge was away for the weekend at a Butchers College on the Gold Coast, but when he returned on Monday, his hometown had been transformed into a “war zone”.
“The water was back in the river, but the mud was six feet high through fences and there was debris everywhere,” Cr Radnedge said.
The mayor still remembers the camaraderie of not only locals, but the volunteers who poured in from across Queensland to help clean up the town, forming the very first “Mud Army”.
“We were the first Mud Army, and I’m really proud of that fact,” Cr Radnedge said.
What was born out of the disaster in 1990 was a new government program involving convicted criminals serving time for low-level crimes forming work gangs, the first of which was sent to help with the clean-up effort.
“That was the first one and those work camp programs are still here and still do great work in our community,” Cr Radnedge said.
“The generosity and camaraderie made the Charleville spirit what it is and I’m proud to be mayor of the Murweh to lead the commemoration.”
PUB CRAWL TO REMEMBER
When the floodwaters began to rise on Saturday, April 21, 1990, business owner Judey Aiken remembers sinking beers and rums with about 10 friends for a birthday party.
The laid-back nature of bushies meant even when water began spilling onto the floors of local hotels, Ms Aiken and her friends moved to another venue down the road to continue the party.
“We just went to the next pub at the Victoria Hotel. We were in there, had some drinks while sitting on the stools and the next thing we know the water is going over our lap,” she reminisced.
“There could have been about 10 or 12 of us celebrating this birthday, so we just got some grog and went to a friend’s place.
“The next day they came in the boats, took us around back to the Victoria Hotel, we went up the roof and got picked up by helicopters.”
The next day, Ms Aiken saw her car on the front page of The Sunday Mail, after it was carried by floodwaters past the venues her and her friends had visited on their pub crawl the night before.
It came to a final rest out the front of Corones Hotel.