Writers tell tale of city’s courage

THREE JCU academics have toasted the launch of their hard work documenting Townsville’s resilience in times of crisis.

Taking a year to collaborate, Dr Rohan Lloyd, Dr Claire Brennan and Patrick White contributed a chapter to a new book, Disasters in Australia and New Zealand.

The book was launched via Zoom earlier this month after COVID cancelled the launch in Melbourne at the Australian Historical Association. The book brings together a collection of essays on the history of disasters in Australia and New Zealand by numerous university academics. Lead author for chapter five, Escaping Water: Living against floods in Townsville, North Queensland, from settlement to 2019, Dr Lloyd said it had been “invigorating” to contribute.

“During the (2019 Townsville) floods, I emailed Claire with the idea of doing something we could put our historical skills towards for the flood,” he said.

Dr Lloyd said he hoped the book would showcase Townsville for its strengths in times of disaster.

“I want the audience to understand there is a broad history in Australia, not just capital cities, and regional centres have unique ways to deal with floods.”

Mr White said writing his part of the book had been a therapeutic experience.

“We have been through a combination of (night of) Noah and (Cyclone) Yasi and I was there for the landslide in Wulguru, so there is lived experiences of natural disasters that comes through in our chapter,” he said.