REMEMBER WHEN

THE Gold Coast was in the grip of its worst-ever flood disaster.

About 2500 residents and holiday-makers had to flee from homes, flats and caravans with about 1300 evacuees being placed in rescue centres.

They were being moved back to their homes as the waters receded.

In the area’s biggest-ever rescue operation, almost 1500 people were evacuated by the Gold Coast branch of the statewide Disaster Relief Organisation.

The Nerang River rose to a record height of almost 10m, including a 6.25m rise in 36 hours, and merged with tidal surges to produce an everwidening sea of floodwater.

Torrential downpour included 60 hours of continuous rain at Aline Panorama, Springbrook, to produce a four-day flood period rainfall of almost 1.5m.

The Premier, Sir Joh BjelkePetersen, flew into Coolangatta airport for an on-the-spot look at the coastal damage.

Albert MP Bill D’Arcy called for the launching of an appeal for flood victims through the Bulletin and Radio 4GG.

Dr Emmanuel Cominos, of Cypress Gardens, who with his wife and two children moved into their two-storey, Spanish style home a month earlier, spoke for many people who built luxurious waterside homes when he said: “It’s a calculated risk and I don’t regret it for a moment. We were told that the developers should have put the land 8ft [about 2.4m] above the 1972 flood level and we built well above that.

“The water stopped just short of the house, but there was 3ft [about 0.9m] of water in our road, River Crescent.”