Return to eerie scene
Residents and rescuers relive rooftop antics in floods
Residents of Holloways Beach who were pulled from flooded homes in boats have returned to the house where many sat on the roof awaiting evacuation to share stories and tears with their rescuers.
Kelly and Tony Walsh’s home was used as an SES gathering point for residents of the beach community before they were evacuated out to the safety of the Barron River Bridge.
The Walsh’s home was under more than 1.5 metres of water but its location next to the flooded lake meant it served as a point smaller boats could drop off soaking wet families to be loaded on to larger boats for evacuation.
Mr Walsh said on the evening of Sunday, December 17, the water rose quickly before they made the decision to climb onto the roof with his wife, mother-in-law, and their dogs.
After lunch the water was rushing past the home and The Walshes were sheltering in a swag set up on the roof along with a portaloo before they were eventually picked up by SES crews in the evening.
The SES then used the home as their evacuation gathering point.
“We had 20-30 people at any one time on the roof with animals so the SES guys are extreme heroes putting their own lives at risk to help strangers,” Mr Walsh said.
“I caught up with (SES controller) Reece (Booij) to thank him personally for saving our lives and put the message out for us to come together with all these people to thank the volunteers.”
Mr Walsh said that there was a high chance that lives could have been lost if they weren’t able to use the home as a point to organise the rescue efforts.
“The water was rushing through so quickly the boats weren’t able to get into parts, so they were able to get people here to the roof then on from there.”
On Friday morning evacuees, Mr and Mrs Walsh included, gathered at the home along with SES volunteers working the boats that Sunday night to share hugs, tears, and stories from the harrowing night.
“Our crews were operating from around lunch time on Sunday to about four on Monday morning,” Local SES controller Reece Booij said.
“When we arrived we came in through the lake behind the house here to find a cutting in the trees that we were able to push into, that’s when we saw the residents of this house on their roof yelling out for help.
“We loaded them into the boat and then the larger rescue swift we used to transport people out to the Barron river bridge which was our drop off point.
“Once we were able to gain access into Oak St we began to use this house as the safe haven for all residents in Holloways.
‘It meant we got people out of the water and onto a roof and that way we could manage the evacuations out to the drop off.
Mr Booij said that over 120 people crossed over the roof with their children, pets and bags.
“It’s hard seeing everyone today who have may have lost everything, this is someone’s life we are standing in today,”
“It’s something I will always remember, I don’t really have the words to say at the moment.”