Scars still raw from monsoon

EVEN during some of the worst points of February’s monster monsoon, if you resided in parts of the CBD, you could be forgiven for not understanding the magnitude of the damage.

Townsville city centre for the most part was unscathed and apart from damp, mould and some isolated issues, most managed to recover well.

Indeed, just hours after the rain stopped, Flinders St looked completely normal were it not for the occasional Australian Defence Force vehicle, makeshift rescue vehicle, or car and tinnie rolling by. But just a short drive out of town the scale of the severe weather event was deeply saddening.

More than six months on and it’s also easy to forget just how long it can take for residents or business owners to get back on their feet after a natural disaster.

But in various pockets across the city, and across North Queensland, there are so many dealing with the real-life fallout of the February floods.

Some are still out of their house and some are trying to rebuild businesses, others have been forced to walk away from their livelihoods while others are still fighting insurance companies.

In February people’s lives were turned upside down.

Despite the fact more than six months have passed since that rain of biblical proportions lashed our region, some of us still have a long way to go before normality is restored — and for others, things will never be returned to normal.

In recent weeks, the Bulletin has talked to flood victims in different neighbourhoods like Idalia or Hermit Park, and the strip of businesses on Bowen Rd is another example of a pocket of devastation doing it tough. Some of these business owners who haven’t been able to get an insurance payout have described the whole ordeal as gut-wrenching.

The road to recovery is a long one for many residents and while for most of us the floods are a distant memory, for others they’re still living with the turmoil created by the event.