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In September last year, Wayne started to have a few chest pains. It turned out to be nothing, but because of it, he suddenly became worried that he may die without having actually married me. So we worked it all out and finally managed to set a date. On 29 Oct, I officially became Mrs Melony Boseley in the Brisbane Registry Office. It was a tiny ceremony that lasted 5 minutes... Best. Wedding. Ever.
My hair wasn't supposed to be so curly, by the way. I asked for wavy, and the beautician screwed it up. Everyone loved it anyway, so I just dealt with it. And I never wanted the standard wedding, so when I looked for a dress, I decided to find one that was nice enough for the occasion. But also not too casual. And I can wear it again outside of the wedding. hah
Wayne & I went to New Zealand for the honeymoon. It was pretty epic! But way too short. We only spent a week there, and then it was back to work for both of us. We did the South Island where all the cool stuff is. We spent a day out on a big rock on the first day that was actually where the set for Edoras was taken for the Lord of the Rings movies. We have some cool pictures of Wayne & I brandishing swords. But they're sitting in a hard drive in a box I don't want to look for at the moment. So I'll post them another time.
Anyway. After that, it was full-on Christmas retail season, so nothing to report there. People bought stuff from me, and I lost patience with the levels of stupidity I was dealing with. And everything else. But got through that alright.
Then January happened. I was excited cuz I was planning on a birthday party for myself on the 16th, since I was turning 30, which is supposed to be a milestone or whatever. But that never happened.
On 10 January, we were told the city we live in was going to be flooded. At first, they were predicting a 12metre rise in the river that goes through the middle of town. There was a massive flood crisis in 1974 where the flood waters rose the river to 20.4 meters. At that time, the land in which our house is now sitting went under water. But as there were no houses in the area at the time, no one knew how high it went.
So when we were told on Jan 10 that flood levels were going to rise, Wayne and I did a bit of research. In 1976, there was another flood crisis, and the river went up 14 meters. So Wayne and I decided we were safe. The land didn't go under at that time. But we decided if it was anywhere around 15meters or more, then we might be in trouble.
We got some boxes and started boxing up all our games, consoles, books, and other memorable things like pictures and stuff. Just in case. 12 meters, we were going to be fine.
But then a city about 30miles away suddenly had a crisis of there own. The news dubbed it an "Inland Tsunami". Rainwater from the mountains didn't have anywhere else to go, so it broke through some barriers and pushed it's way into the streets. It completely took houses up and out. Cars, Trees, and even people were swept away.
And that's when the devastation really started.
Because of all this extra water, it started filling up the dams, and now the dams were reaching capacity. To stop it from breaking and then bursting through the cities, the government had to start letting water out of the dams. And no small amounts either.
So on Tuesday 11 Jan, I went to work wondering if there was going to be more. An hour after I got there, we found out... it was.
The predictions came in, and they were saying 18 meters for the river now. 18 meters meant my house was probably going to get flooded.
So Wayne came to pick me up, had Zac start packing up the other car, and then we tried to salvage what we could. And took it all over to his brother's house that was going to be safer than ours. My cats were the first things we got out, naturally.
At 1pm that afternoon, the street that was the only street access to our home was already flooded. We could no longer get to the house we thought. It wasn't until later that afternoon we found out there had been another access point, but by then we had already started to count our loses.
At 8.30 the next day, we went back to the area to see what it looked like. And this was the picture we could get from far away with our camera:
We later got this shot of the entire area:
So I was involved in the Queensland Floods. My mom told me it was all over the news over there, but she's a big news person, and I know I never have been, so if I hadn't been here, I may never have known.
The waters went up higher, but we never managed anymore photos of it until the waters receded. They started to predict it going up to 24 meters, and if that had been true, Our house would have gone completely under. As it was, it went up to the roof. But in the house, thankfully, it only reached to an inch under the ceiling.
Our neighbour's houses went up to the ceiling, and their entire ceiling caved in when the waters receded. We don't have to replace our ceiling thankfully. And at this point, we're taking what wins we can get.
When we moved into the house, we were informed that the land went under in the 74 floods. But we had no idea how high. Still in the same, we took out flood insurance anyway. And that's where it's paid off. We paid a lot for that insurance, just for the peace of mind. And now we're thankful for that. There are so many others not as fortunate.
On Thursday 13 Jan, the waters receded, and we got to return to the house.
From left to right: 1) If you look in the background, you'll see a shed. The big water tank (full of water) was actually behind that shed. 2) Our bathroom ceiling did cave in, but only a section of it, since it had a portion deliberately lower than the rest of the ceiling. 3) Our refrigerator as we found it, sitting across two benches (pretty epic, if you ask me). 4) Our computer room.
There are so many more, but that's all I can bear to display right now. We set to the task after that, of cleaning it out. It took two solid days to empty the house, including the carpets. And then another two days to clean it. My birthday was spent trying to get information from insurance about the walls of the house. Because it was under water for about 36 hours, the walls themselves were warping. And we started to wonder if the boards holding them up would start to mildew. On Monday 17, we got approval to rip out the walls.
My house as it is now.
And my contents sitting on the curb ready to be picked up.
So our fate had been decided for us. We won't be in the house for a long time now. It could be 12 months before we get back into it. Wayne's brother and his wife were more than happy to keep up with them. I wasn't so certain. After a while things started to grate on all of us living under the one roof. So Wayne & I managed to get some information out of the insurance company. They agreed to pay our rent for a maximum of 12 months. Cuz we still owe the mortgage on the other house as well. The bank for our mortgage has agreed to suspend payments for a little while, but during that time, we will be accruing interest. So effectively we could owe more than we borrowed if we stopped paying for a full 12 months.
But we think we have it sorted out anyway. A week and a half ago, we moved into a rental place. Our insurance is covering the rent, and as soon as we get back on our feet, we'll start paying our mortgage again. But now it's a waiting game. We don't know how long it'll be before we get back into the house. It's been 5 weeks now since the floods, and we still haven't received a phone call from a case manager. They acknowledge our claim, and say they will pay out on it, but when, where, how, and by whom, we have no clue.
Tiny bit frustrating, and stressful. But we're safe, sound, and in a place. We can't complain too much. We had a couple of credit cards. We asked for a bit more money on both of them, and got it, since our credit is good. When we got into the place, we bought some furniture with them. So now we're maxed out on our cards, and have limited cash. But at least we can pay all that off when/if we get our insurance check in. Whenever that may be.
Here's hoping anyway. ^.^
