This post extends my April post, Townsville’s 2019 floods, by mentioning some consequences, both temporary and ongoing, of the flood damage.
Accelerated decisions
- Old people flooded out of their homes may not return but find retirement accommodation, a move they may have been resisting for years.
- All sorts of people will be replacing furniture they were already planning to replace because it was looking shabby.
Cancellations
- Both of the main performing arts spaces, Civic Theatre and Riverway, were flood damaged and had to be closed for repairs, forcing the cancellation of events scheduled well into the middle of the year. Civic Theatre, I know, is re-opening for the Australian Festival of Chamber Music in July – but then re-closing to finish repairs.
- Sports grounds were also flood damaged, forcing the cancellation of events up to national-festival level.
- The Alice River bridge on Hervey’s Range Road was severely damaged and needs to be rebuilt. Rumour (which is all I have) has it that the road won’t re-open until late this year. Until it does, Hervey’s Range residents can only get into town via Black River Road and the Highway, an extra 10 Km each way.
Delayed decisions
- Planning on selling your house or business, but it was flooded? It will probably be months before it can go on the market.
- Need a tradie for routine maintenance? They are all still busy with flood repairs.
Green waste
Cyclones generate a huge amount of green waste at both household and municipal levels. The floods created far less of it, but still enough to be a problem. Townsville City Council always allows free dumping of green waste at its tip sites but after the floods there was an addition to the gatehouse routine: I was asked, “Is this from the floods or it is regular household green waste?”
“What difference does it make?” I wanted to know.
“Well, the city council covers the cost if it’s from your ordinary clean-up, but the state government is paying the bill for flood recovery.”
Hard rubbish
A large area of the Lou Litster Park between Ross Creek and Officeworks became a temporary green waste dump after cyclone Yasi in February 2011. The same area was fenced off after these floods as a temporary dump for hard rubbish – household goods, construction materials, etc. It was also guarded, for a time, because a lot of perfectly good things were written off by the insurance companies and then had to be dumped.
The prime example of this kind of wastage discussed by friends was the entire stock of the big green hardware store in Idalia, flooded to a depth of two metres and dumped: thousands of dollars worth of hand tools, garden furniture, paint, plumbing fittings, etc, would have been as good as new after a wash, even if power tools and light fittings had to be condemned as unsafe.
The other kind of wastage which struck me as I drove around Hermit Park and other badly affected suburbs was that so much of our furniture is appallingly badly constructed in terms of resisting water damage. Look at any furnishings catalogue and there are pages and pages of cabinets, desks, beds, etc, made of melamine over MDF (fibreboard) or chipboard. As soon as it gets wet, it expands and collapses into mush, and is totally irreparable.
And all the soft furnishings – couches and lounge chairs, “luxury” bed-heads, etc – are upholstered directly over stapled-together wooden (or, again, fibreboard) frames. Any moisture on them soaks straight in and stays there, a perfect home for mould and mildew while the staples rust and let the substructure fall apart. Again, it is totally irreparable.
What are the sustainable alternatives? Solid wood or cane construction, and removable cushions; or glass, plastic and steel.
Miscellaneous
Reef HQ aquarium had to add 26 tonnes of salt to the Coral Reef Exhibit tank to stop the fresh rain water from killing all the coral.
Landcare reckons that half the trees planted along Goondaloo Creek in recent revegetation projects were washed away and now have to be replaced. There was also significant damage to other reclamation sites – erosion, rubbish accumulation, etc – and Landcare has set up an appeal to raise funds to repair the damage.

The Alice River bridge on Hervey’s Range Rd was reopened to traffic on 26 June 2019. “All works will be completed by early July 2019, weather and site conditions permitting,” according to TMR.
Here, by the way, is drone footage showing the flood damage on the weekend of the heaviest rain: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QZxUvIprDAE
Council has announced that the Pinnacles Gallery at Riverway is expected to re-open by the end of this year.
They were over-optimistic. Riverway Arts Centre and the gallery are still “closed until further notice” according to the council website – https://www.townsville.qld.gov.au/facilities-and-recreation/theatres-and-galleries/pinnacles-gallery/venue-information
28 Jul 2019, 07:00 pm – 08:00 pm
Townsville City Council is collaborating with the Queensland Music Festival (QMF) to bring Glen Shorrock and the Help is on its Way Project to the North Australian Festival of Arts (NAFA). The Help is on its Way Project has been developed by QMF to encourage conversation around mental health and will bring together a community choir to perform Glen Shorrock’s hit ‘Help is on its Way’. Townsville’s choir will include members of the community, Emergency Services, the Defence Force and Council staff who were involved in the response to the unprecedented monsoon.
More: https://whatson.townsville.qld.gov.au/events/nafa/glenn-shorrock-and-the-help-is-on-its-way-project
Mould inhalation can be life-threatening. Here’s a cautionary tale from Idalia: https://www.abc.net.au/news/2019-08-09/health-impacts-of-townsville-floods-mould/11390952
https://www.abc.net.au/news/science/2019-08-23/climate-retreat-planning-science/11435382
Any Townsville reader is going to think of Idalia immediately.
Two and a half years on, we’re told that homes near the lakes in Idalia are keenly sought after. All that Green Path can say is that either the story is totally unbelievable whether it’s true or not.
“In Idalia, where 8.1 per cent of properties were listed last year, agents have reported “record numbers” at some open homes. House values in Idalia have been clawing their way back after the 2019 floods, rising 11.7 per cent in the three months to January, according to the REA Market Trends report.”
https://www.realestate.com.au/news/supply-vs-demand-townsvilles-great-market-squeeze-revealed/
People are still asking each other, “How did you go in the floods?” and the answers often show that many of us are still struggling. “The garden is getting back to normal but we’re still not able to move back into the house,” was one reply I heard recently.
Another (older) couple are still living in a child’s house while their own is being repaired, but the new-to-me twist is that some people simply left town for months – one couple moved to Mackay while their home was being fixed because the rents in Townsville skyrocketed, and another moved to Brisbane for a while.
Insurance costs are rising because of the increased risks which insurers are now aware of.
One Townsville apartment owner “is expecting a 30 per cent jump in insurance costs next year — on top of a five-fold increase that has seen the annual premium [for the complex] soar from less than $30,000 to more than $150,000 in a decade.”
It’s a long, thorough investigation and is worth reading in full. Find it at https://www.abc.net.au/news/2019-10-23/the-suburbs-facing-rising-insurance-costs-from-climate-risk/11624108
Nine months after the floods, Townsville City Council seems happy with the rate of progress in repairing roads. We doubt that their residents are as happy.
Tradespeople with some free capacity are advertising for flood-repair work. Here’s a recent example from Facebook.

Another unexpected consequence: this announcement came from the city council today.

It’s nearly Christmas, and things still haven’t improved for a lot of people:
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2019-12-16/christmas-wont-be-same-for-many-north-queensland-flood-victims/11792296
An update from ABC News, one year on. It was triggered by (and begins with) another significant rainfall event but is mostly about the 2019 floods. https://www.abc.net.au/news/2020-01-31/rain-unsettling-for-townsville-residents-one-year-from-flood/11909826
And here comes sea-level rise to amplify our water problems: https://theconversation.com/unwelcome-sea-change-new-research-finds-coastal-flooding-may-cost-up-to-20-of-global-economy-by-2100-143599
Nearly two years on, about 200 people are still not back in their homes. https://www.abc.net.au/news/2020-10-23/200-properties-still-damaged-two-years-after-townsville-floods/12803830
Brisbane is still coming to terms with its 2011 floods but a lot of their solutions apply here:
“…building homes so they could be washed out without being ruined. “It’s really just a recognition of the fact that we will never really be able to stop all the water that we’re seeing now if we want to continue living in a floodplain like we do in Brisbane, or elsewhere around the state,” he said. “We have to accept a certain level of risk.”
“From a sustainability point of view, given that people don’t have to rip everything out and start again, we’re significantly reducing the amount of waste that goes to landfill over the life of the house,” he said.
“The worst form of house in a floodplain is essentially a slab on ground, brick veneer, plasterboard house with a pine frame construction.” The flood resilient homes feature large open spaces that are easy to clean and often include materials like hard timbers and concrete…”
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-06-06/queensland-floods-building-brisbane-better/100192074
Two and a half years on, the Council is celebrating repairs to one of the Ross River weirs – https://www.townsville.qld.gov.au/about-council/news-and-publications/media-releases/2021/july/800kg-panels-airlifted-onto-black-weir-as-part-of-monsoon-repair/
“Townsville City Council has successfully completed works on Black Weir to repair damage sustained during the unprecedented 2019 monsoon floods, with large concrete panels being airlifted onto the weir as part of the complex project. Council contracted local business CivilPlus Constructions to undertake the $150,000 repair project …” and spokespeople for all three levels of government (federal Libs, state Labor and local Labor) claimed credit for the work, which we think is remarkable.
Brisbane has just flooded and home buyers are beginning to wake up to the dangers of buying in the wrong area. The last line of the article may may you groan, however. https://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-03-12/flooding-prompts-new-investor-questions/100891930
Guidelines for making your home more flood-resilient – written for Brisbane but just as relevant up here. https://www.qra.qld.gov.au/resilient-homes/flood-resilient-building-guidance-queensland-homes