The floodwater moved into Theodore and its 300 residents
moved out.
On the 28th of December 2010, the rural town of Theodore made
history.
The township west of Bundaberg sits at the junction of the
Dawson River and Castle Creek.
Residents were trapped in a mandatory evacuation was called,
making Theodore the first Queensland town to be totally
evacuated.
I think that you're never quite the same after any major crisis.
But I think generally the town is as strong if not a little bit
stronger than it was before the flood.
When we came in here, the water was basically up to here.
So we were moving through and all ...we used to run a
dispensary so all of that was covered with with medications.
A fleet of helicopters came in taking the last of the locals
and their pets to safety.
This is very orderly process and it was all done by private
helicopters.
It was truly amazing.
There's no way out of town, all the roads were cut.
And it was these single choppers that came in.
We had up to six of them landing outside the hotel, at any one
stage.
I had to laugh at my, you know, Dad who'd been a Vietnam vet,
who heard the choppers coming and going coming and going over
those couple of days before we were actually evacuated.
And he said to me at one point, 'Good God', he said, 'a man
would think he was back in Vietnam', just with the noise of
the choppers flying over head for those few days.
We didn't ever think that would come to this.
Obviously, I don't know how long it's gonna be before they can
come back.
I do feel for them.
Those who fled had set up a home at a mining camp in Moura.
It's the first time in the state's history and entire towns
been evacuated.
Anglo America just put their hand up and said, 'Look, you
know, we can take people from Theodore'.
Because at that stage, we didn't know how long we were going to
You know, we thought maybe a couple of days not the, you
be out of town.
know, week plus, the 10 days, that we were out of town.
Also on hand through the evacuation has been a long time
local doctor and medical superintendent of the hospital
Bruce Chaytor.
But he too, has suffered because of the record flooding hitting
Theodore with his home and practice, built up over 32
years, waist deep in water.
It's heartbreaking really.
It caught us by surprise, like everyone, but more so that it
was school holidays we were fairly well off the
communication grid.
I would have been five going on six.
Rain like you've never seen it.
But, yeah, and going past over the bridge every day, just
seeing it getting higher.
I live out of town, about 40K or so, and I remember just lots and
lots of rain.
I was five at the time.
I was only three so I don't really remember too much.
But I remember having to leave the house and going out of town
to be safe.
So the water was right through here.
And you can actually still just see.
So it's actually up about that level. right through here.
These are our old medical records which, thankfully, we
put on computer in 2010 just before the flood.
We tried to save as much equipment from the general
practice which was next door in those days.
You could hear the air and the water mixing inside the water
because it is bubbling noise.
So as the water soaked in it was displacing the air and you could
hear the walls were gurgling.
It's the second time this year flooding has ravaged cotton
crops around Theodore.
Because it was an extremely wet season then the seemed to be a
flood peak pretty much a week apart with three distinct flood
peaks.
And this was all coming up and we were trying to protect crops
as much as we could.
And after the first one went down, we thought, oh well, we've
saved a fair amount.
And then the next one came along and and I thought, 'Oh, we'll
try to save it again', and everything else and then it
pretty much took the lot.
So then we changed our focus in helping the town.
Theodore has been a ghost town until now.
After 10 days the residents have been allowed back in to see what
the floods left behind.
When the need for clearing homes and that sort of thing was
happening, people from properties that hadn't been
flooded, they were really great.
They came in and they worked hard.
Seeing the community being together afterwards.
Volunteers came from everywhere.
I always said, if I teared it up, it was when someone showed
me some kindness, not so much.
I didn't cry over the mud and slush.
I mainly just got upset when people's kindness, because I
think you realize how people care.
I think it's a spectrum of emotions.
I don't think we can say that everyone was fine.
Some people suffered very badly.
I mean, they lost their livelihoods, lost their farms,
and it was tougher for them.
And I think we've since then had to help them get through that
loss and those things, but for for most people, it was a matter
of just trying to get on and sort things out.
No one was killed, and no one was seriously injured.
So that was the biggest plus for our town.
I thought, 'Well, that will put retirement plans down the track
a fair way.'
But anyway, here we are 10 years later, we actually managed to
hang on.
We used to actually have a weekly barbecue where the whole
town ... we'd just have free steak and some salads.
And we'd all meet in the middle of town and just get together
and let it rip for a while.
And I think there was free beer too.
But everyone could get in and and it's an emotional support
that's really important.
I think there's a tinge of sadness, certainly, still around
about what people have lost along the way and the crisis
they went through.
But I think crises in a funny way have a way of developing
strength and character in people but also in towns.