Bernadette Tolson · 37 min
A woman who returned to her childhood home to build a farm and vineyard finds herself on a flood island, rescuing cattle in the dark and watching her beloved village emerge battered but unbroken.
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Bernadette returned to Broke in 2012 to build a life on her family's acreage. She had left the small Hunter Valley town as a teenager, but came back to run cattle, plant vineyards, and offer accommodation. On July 6th, 2022, water rose faster than anyone expected. After checking the Bureau of Meteorology alerts at work, she drove home through flooding that had already closed roads. By the time she arrived, water was crossing onto the property. She and her husband Max moved quickly to save the cattle they had watched being born, cutting fences to free young heifers from rising floodwater. The water climbed right up to the house before stopping around 1 a.m., leaving them isolated on an island with no power and no news from the wider community. Through the night, Bernadette marked the water level each hour, cleared memorabilia from the shed, and stayed connected to her sister on the phone. When daylight came and the water began to recede, they realised the house had been spared.
Once the road opened, Bernadette drove into the village on a quad bike and found a community in crisis but also in motion. Personal belongings scattered the streets, but people were organising, helping, and feeding each other. She showed up to community meals not because she needed anything, but to sit with her neighbours around food. Over the following months, volunteers from beyond Broke arrived to help repair what the flood had taken. Beyond Ballooning brought a digger for the driveway. Young Army soldiers worked in the mud rebuilding. BlazeAid fixed fences. Friends and family spent days restoring flattened vines. Two years on, Bernadette sees the village more connected than before, with plans for ongoing wellness sessions and, crucially, designated contact people in each area so neighbours never feel alone in the next emergency. Her glamping site, a small white tent on the riverbank, was the only structure on the property to survive.
“It was scary because we were very isolated. We were actually on an island because there was water all around us and the road to Singleton was closed.”
“It wasn't about the value of the cattle, it was about life — livestock — we would hate to have seen those cows perish.”
“The connection to the village really came for us once the road opened and we were able to go down and be part of the village and part of that recovery check-in point at the community centre.”
The hero, today
When the water came fast, Bernadette focused on saving the cattle they had watched being born, not on the livestock's monetary value. Staying calm during the flood meant cold cups of tea, phone calls from her sister, marking the water level each hour, and keeping her hands busy clearing the shed. Bernadette didn't make phone calls during the emergency because she was aware other people were worse off, but she later realised a designated contact person in each area would have helped neighbours feel less alone. The community meals after the emergency centre closed were where real connection happened; showing up to sit with people around food mattered more than whether Bernadette had a practical need to fill. Two years on, Bernadette is less anxious about heavy rain and more empathetic about how people respond to disaster, having lived through what she learned was probably the biggest flood Broke had ever seen.
Yes. Bernadette Tolson is a real person who shared their own story in their own words. Kintsugi Heroes is a not-for-profit that shares first-person stories of overcoming adversity, told with the person's consent.
Kintsugi Heroes, a registered Australian not-for-profit. Every story is shared with the hero's own consent and reviewed under Kintsugi Heroes' trauma-informed content standard before it goes public.
When the water came fast, Bernadette focused on saving the cattle they had watched being born, not on the livestock's monetary value.
Staying calm during the flood meant cold cups of tea, phone calls from her sister, marking the water level each hour, and keeping her hands busy clearing the shed.
Bernadette didn't make phone calls during the emergency because she was aware other people were worse off, but she later realised a designated contact person in each area would have helped neighbours feel less alone.
The community meals after the emergency centre closed were where real connection happened; showing up to sit with people around food mattered more than whether Bernadette had a practical need to fill.
John Milham (Host) · 00:00
Kintsugi Heroes brings you the following flood resilience stories in partnership with Singleton Neighbourhood Centre and grant funding from the Hunter New England and Central Coast Primary Health Network. To find out more about this podcast, head to kintsugiheroes.com.au. On July 6th, 2022, the worst flood in 70 years hit the town of Broke and the surrounding Hunter Valley region. The The community is still recovering from the trauma the floods brought, destroying their homes and their livelihoods. In this special limited series of Kintsugi Heroes, John Millum sits down with the community who suffered as a result of the floods and gives them space to share their adversity, resilience, and compassion. It's only through connection and empathy that there can be a path to recovery. These are stories of trauma and can be confronting. If you find they have a triggering effect, please reach out to someone who can help keep you safe. Join in as John takes you beyond the deluge with Kintsugi Heroes. So welcome, listeners, to another Stories from the Flood: Beyond the Deluge with Kintsugi Heroes. My name's John Millum, and I'm here today with Bernadette Tolson. Bernadette, you were involved with the flood right up to your chest in the water, right? In the water, but you are not exactly in the village, right? So you have property just outside and of course you're on the other side of the infamous road collapse, right? The gap in the road that locked off the village so much. But of course you were, you had your own challenges with the flood and you were able to observe what was going on around you from— So Bernadette, welcome to Kuntigi Heroes: Stories from the Flood.
Bernadette Tolson (Guest) · 01:54
Thank you, John.
John Milham (Host) · 01:55
And, um, just let's, let's maybe start a little bit today just by, uh, having the, you know, maybe you tell us a little bit about you, uh, you know, how you ended up at Broke and, and, uh, your background leading up to, uh, to the day of the, uh, water.
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This conversation includes coming home to broke, the morning the water came, rescuing the cattle, marooned on the property, cold tea and phone calls through the night and the road that split the village.
Bernadette Tolson (Guest) · 02:11
I was actually, um, a child growing up in Broke and I left when I was 18 to go to this big city of Sydney and then I moved to Victoria. And I returned to Hunter Valley, the Hunter Valley, in 2012. Little did I know that we would buy a property at the end of the street where I grew up. I think that happens quite often. Um, so we purchased the property in 2012 and, uh, we have a, an acreage there where we run, um, cattle. We have a vineyard and we have accommodation. And of course, yes, we're on the, uh, our property was the place where the Broke Road collapsed, segregating one side of the town to the other.
John Milham (Host) · 02:55
Right. So, and you were on the, uh, open side, right? But of course that didn't mean anything when water was across the road in other places anyway.
Bernadette Tolson (Guest) · 03:02
So, no. So initially the water was across the road separating Broke and Singleton, but gradually the water dried up on the Singleton side, so we could actually go to Singleton. But we could not get into the village itself.
John Milham (Host) · 03:18
Wow. And, and so you bought a property 2012, so you've been, been there. It's, it's funny how the circle works, right? You came back to your hometown. That's beautiful. I love that idea. So obviously Broke is in you, right? Calling you over the years and your exploration of the world as a child growing up in Broke and then coming back to it and setting up, you know, a substantial business and life in Broke. In that area. What does it mean to you?
Bernadette Tolson (Guest) · 03:44
Uh, it's certainly, um, as home now. Certainly wasn't for a long time. It means for me, it's wonderful to see the changes and the development of Broke. When I left Broke, there was a few people, a few children at the school, and the mines hadn't come into the district at that stage, and the vineyards were only just starting to begin. So it was a very small town, only 6 or 7 houses in the village itself. And for me, I just think it's a vibrant, young, reasonably young community now with all the development that's happening around. And it's a tourist destination. It's a great employer of people working in the mines and associated businesses with the mines.
John Milham (Host) · 04:28
Yeah, great. That's great. You and your family live and run accommodation and vineyards and cattle. And of course you work with children in the area through the PHN.
Bernadette Tolson (Guest) · 04:41
Yeah.
John Milham (Host) · 04:42
What's it like every day when the place isn't covered in water?
Bernadette Tolson (Guest) · 04:49
It's a beautiful property. Broke itself is a beautiful place. For us, Broke Estate, our property name is our farm that we love. And we've spent a lot of time and energy restoring it. It was a very rundown property. My husband works on the farm. Well, he actually works away, but he's the main person. I'm the assistant manager when he's away, and we have two wonderful children who live in Adelaide who are very, very involved in the property itself. So yeah, it's our special place.
John Milham (Host) · 05:22
So your special place, you're sitting there on the 5th of July. And, uh, you must have known that there, um, that, uh, there was a lot of water, obviously been raining and, you know, the floods were getting, you know, the water levels were rising. How did, um, how did that go for you?
Bernadette Tolson (Guest) · 05:38
Well, it was interesting, John, because on the Sunday, Max and I were down in the vineyard and we looked across to the Telstra towers over near Margans and we couldn't see them because of the rain. And we thought, oh, there's another big rainstorm coming. And then I went to work on the Monday morning. And I got to the intersection of Broke and Cessnock Road and looked down towards Wallumbi and the water was over the road, which I had seen before and wasn't too perturbed about it. Went to work and I had a, a long meeting, a Teams meeting, and at 1 o'clock the meeting finished and I thought, oh, I should check the BOM and see what's happening with the weather. And of course all the hazard alerts came up to say that the roads were closed and there was flooding happening. So I left work about 20 past 1 after I had to do a few things, and I went to go home and I couldn't get past Hermitage Road. But on the way, I observed the flooding in Naucuba. The Catholic— the Christian school, St. Philip's, was entirely flooded around. It was like an island. Luckily, there was school holidays, so I had to go home via Singleton. Which I didn't get home in the end till after 3 o'clock. So it was a very long wet journey. And when I got home, drove in, we had water coming up onto the property. So, um, yeah, it was a bit surreal. It was so unexpected. There weren't warnings. So Max and I went down to the fire station and we met a wonderful person, Robbie, down there who said, oh, if you've got cattle, you should go home and get them up because the water's coming fast and it's going to be a big flood. So we went home and when we got back home, the water was over the road. Actually, before I went to the, to the fire station, I thought there must have been a broken water main on the main road because cars were going past and splashing everywhere. But it wasn't a water main, it was the river already coming. Oh, sorry. That got home. Yeah. So it was already, by the time we got back home, the water was over the road.
John Milham (Host) · 07:39
Hmm. Wow.
Bernadette Tolson (Guest) · 07:40
It's fast.
John Milham (Host) · 07:42
Yeah, so that thought, what's going on? You've got cattle, you've got livestock, you've got, you know, vines, you've got a, you know, your personal safety. What was going on?
Bernadette Tolson (Guest) · 07:53
Well, the main thing we thought about was our cattle. We had, um, a cow and calf that we needed to, um, rescue, and we had 12 young heifers who were down in the water., and, uh, we had to, we had to rescue those. Um, so Max set about going off on his four-wheel motorbike, which consequently got flooded and damaged, and we had to replace it. And it was a miracle the cow and the calf followed him out stockyards. And then he went, he came back home and got some wire cutters to go back and cut the fence to get the heifers out. So we were We were happy that we had rescued those, and it wasn't about, about the value of the cattle, it was about life, you know, livestock. We would hate to have seen those cows, yeah, blown away. Mm.
John Milham (Host) · 08:47
Which has happened.
Bernadette Tolson (Guest) · 08:48
Yeah.
John Milham (Host) · 08:48
And many, you know, people we've spoken to over time talk about the tragedy of losing their livestock, uh, like a member of the family. Mm.
Bernadette Tolson (Guest) · 08:56
Well, we'd been there for the birth of every one of those calves and it was, They were precious to us. Hmm.
John Milham (Host) · 09:04
So your property, what, uh, ended up happening as the water progressed?
Bernadette Tolson (Guest) · 09:10
Um, so we managed to get the 12 cows, heifers, up to near the house, and then they were safe. By this stage, it was getting dark. Um, and then the water just progressed up to the house, um, right up to the, to the house itself. And then it stopped. Thank, thankfully, I think it was about 1 o'clock in the morning, it stopped. Wow. Um, but in the meantime, yeah, we had lots of phone calls from friends in interstate telling us that the floods were bad. We didn't know how bad they were because we didn't have any communication. The power had gone out, it was dark, we couldn't watch the news. We were very mindful of, um, not using our telephones.
John Milham (Host) · 09:48
Yeah.
Bernadette Tolson (Guest) · 09:49
You use the battery, but luckily we remembered we had some battery packs in the shed and we were able to charge our telephones. So yes, it was a wait and see game and just wondering what was happening everywhere else.
John Milham (Host) · 10:04
Yeah, cuz you're slightly separated, so you would've felt like very isolated. What was that like?
Bernadette Tolson (Guest) · 10:10
It was scary because we were very isolated. We were actually on an island because there was water all around us and the road to Singleton was closed. The, the neighbors were all locked off from us as well, locked out. We thought if we did get stuck there, we could just go up into the ceiling onto the roof. We didn't think the flood would get that high. So we, yeah, we just, I guess we had to just stay calm. And I think we'd learned a lot of resilience from the bushfires. We needed to have a safety plan. My daughter in Adelaide was amazing. She was on the phone constantly telling us what we should do. Max had previously had some surgery, so he was actually still recuperating and he shouldn't have been wandering around in dirty water. But, um, yeah, she was amazing in just making us think about our future and, you know, evacuation future and what we should do. We've got two beautiful dogs, how we're going to manage the dogs. They were going to go with us, no doubt. Yeah. Um, yeah, so I think we were, we had to just, um, Relax, really, amongst the stress.
John Milham (Host) · 11:19
So clearly it's quite, yeah, it's quite, you know, anxiety filled, right? In that situation. So, and, and so you had to calm down, right? What did you do to, to calm down? That's like not an easy prospect.
Bernadette Tolson (Guest) · 11:34
No. Well, we had cold cups of tea. Oh gosh.
John Milham (Host) · 11:38
Like the, of all the damage and trauma, and that's probably the worst, right?
Bernadette Tolson (Guest) · 11:42
Yes. How did we manage that? I think it was, yeah, the phone calls from friends. My sister was a great person throughout the night. She kept calling, checking in on us. And I think it was around having that connection with someone who understood, didn't understand the floods, but understood us as human beings. Yeah. How we managed stress. And talked us through.
John Milham (Host) · 12:11
Yeah.
Bernadette Tolson (Guest) · 12:11
And I guess for me, talk us through the disaster. For me, I had great delight in going out every hour and marking the water as it was coming up to the house. My mother used to do that long before, um, long, many years ago. And that was for me, you know, something to keep a task for me to keep my mind at ease. Yeah. I sent Max to bed about 1 o'clock because I thought he needed some rest. I went and cleared the shed out because I had a lot of memorabilia in the shed that I was worried might flood. So I was out there busy doing that, lifting it up onto tables.
John Milham (Host) · 12:47
Well, and the good news is that the water went as far as threatening your island but didn't go in, right?
Bernadette Tolson (Guest) · 12:56
Yes. Yep.
John Milham (Host) · 12:58
When did you feel like that was a, you know, that was gonna be the case? Did you know that you could to relax a bit about the levels of water that you were tracking every hour or so.
Bernadette Tolson (Guest) · 13:08
It was, it was about daylight when you could start to see that the water on the bricks was not going any higher, that it was, that it was stable. Yes. Yeah.
John Milham (Host) · 13:20
So now as you, you think about that, right?
Bernadette Tolson (Guest) · 13:22
How was, you know, how do you assess your level of response and preparation for a situation like I think we've done better at doing that since the flood. I think most people in any flooded area, and particularly in Broke, would probably have better evacuation plans, even though this was, you know, an incredibly fast flood. Be more prepared. We thought we were prepared, but, you know, things like— we still haven't got it, but, you know, acquiring a generator.
John Milham (Host) · 13:53
Yeah.
Bernadette Tolson (Guest) · 13:54
Yeah. So we do have, um, power. We certainly had plenty of food, which was, which I think when I first came to the country to live, my friends said, you must always have lots of food in your freezer, which we do. We lived on frozen vegetables and frozen fish for a week. But I think, uh, be prepared emotionally and have evacuation plans. I think now since the disaster, we've got the Most people in Broke, they now know who the significant people would be to call in an emergency, whereas I think before it was a little bit vague. And I think that's a positive thing that's come out of the floods. We're more connected.
John Milham (Host) · 14:34
Yeah, well, you know, nothing substitutes lived experience for sort of getting it better. So interesting, you had the island, right? And so once that personal, you had a sort of sense of, oh, I'm, I'm not, you know, this is not good, but it, uh, you know, I'm not in any more threat. From that island you looked down, what did you see? You know, like you, you couldn't, when did you connect with others and how were they going and stuff?
Bernadette Tolson (Guest) · 15:04
Uh, it was some days. Oh, I guess on the Wednesday, um, we had, um, several phone calls from the SES and the fire brigade talking about evacuation. So, but we did request and we were approved to stay because we had water, we had food, and we were concerned about our livestock. That once the water went down, the fences had been washed away and the cattle could escape. So I think it was about the Wednesday because we We personally didn't bother anyone in the community because we were safe and we, the only thing we wanted was water. We didn't have any fresh drinking water, but that was delivered to us, you know, as soon as possible. I did collect rainwater. I had my, all my basins outside in the sun collecting, not the sun, in the, in the yard. Water. But I think, yeah, the connection really came for us. To the village once the road opened and we were able to go down and be part of the village and part of that recovery check-in point at the, at the community center.
John Milham (Host) · 16:14
What did you see?
Bernadette Tolson (Guest) · 16:15
Oh, amazing. Just incredible. The first shock was people's personal belongings on the, the streets.
John Milham (Host) · 16:23
Yeah.
Bernadette Tolson (Guest) · 16:23
But then the, the, the place was just buzzing. People were, you know, lots of mixed emotions, but there was food, there were people, there was the police, there were the politicians, there was, you name it, they were there to help out. It was an incredible, and we just felt very welcomed driving into town on our four-wheel motorbike without any helmets and with a high-vis jacket on.
John Milham (Host) · 16:47
Yeah.
Bernadette Tolson (Guest) · 16:48
Good. It was weird driving down the road on a motorbike, on a quad bike. Yeah.
John Milham (Host) · 16:53
And you know, like the environment, was it changed?
Bernadette Tolson (Guest) · 16:57
Yes, it was, it was like a, a war zone. Sad. I don't think I saw a war zone, a war zone, but it was very sad to see the devastation. It was dirty, it was wet. Yeah. It was, the sun was shining and it was really eerie.
John Milham (Host) · 17:14
Yeah. As you say, mixed emotions. How, how did you know? And you're sitting there, how did that navigate? You know, what did you see in your fellow, you know, citizens as well as, you know, you navigate?
Bernadette Tolson (Guest) · 17:28
Well, for me, I don't— didn't actually know a lot of residents, um, because the village had changed a lot and there was only a couple of people that I really knew. So I hadn't seen any change in people because I didn't know them, but I got to know some amazing people in that community and then realized what a very well-connected Village it was.
John Milham (Host) · 17:51
Yeah.
Bernadette Tolson (Guest) · 17:51
And the people there were working very, very closely together. There were some, like I said, mixed emotions, and there was some, you know, there were chaplains from the army walking around the street wanting to, you know, support people who needed it. Um, so yeah, there was a lot of, a lot of, um, support there and a lot of fellowship.
John Milham (Host) · 18:13
That's, um, really important. Like a, that, you know, immediacy of support and that recognition, you know, the fear, you know, supplanted by connection. You know, how did you like it? It sounds good. Do you think Broke did it well? Is that like, was that because of they were, it was Broke or was it, you know, the people involved or what?
Bernadette Tolson (Guest) · 18:34
Well, I think it was Broke, but I also think, you know, the, um, there were some amazing services came in who were after a few days, um, that supported the village and the people. And they had, from, like I said, the learned experience coming from Lismore, you know, there was some Salvation Army, the Red Cross, Land Services were there, Centrelink, Resilience New South Wales. And all these services were set up in either the church— well, they originally were in the hall community center, but that then became a virtual shopping center. Yeah. And, and, uh, you know, work, work area for job, jobs to be done. And so the, the meetings ended up, or the services ended up sitting in the, the local Catholic church. Um, and I can remember going there one day and just going there because everyone else was there and just stood at the door and we didn't really need anything, but mm-hmm. You know, the Salvation Army lady said, oh, come and sit down. And you know, she just had a chat and, you know, gave us a voucher for Bunnings, which was amazing. You know, it was just, we, we didn't expect that, but yeah, there were a lot of people in need and they, they knew what to do. They were incredible people.
John Milham (Host) · 19:54
Yeah. Wow. Sounds, sounds like the be— the best of a terrible situation. Mm-hmm. What did you see that disturbed you?
Bernadette Tolson (Guest) · 20:05
I think it probably was the break in the road because it meant for so many people, not just for us in the village, but for people who used that road every day, and there's literally thousands, uh, use that over, you know, over a week, um, that they weren't able to commute, commute to work. It was a long journey around to go to work for the people in Broke itself. Luckily it was school holidays, so the children didn't need to go to school, but for them to go to work in Singleton or go into Singleton where their GP or their bank was or any services, they had to go around the long way, which was stressful for, for people. It was financially stressful in their cars, time away from their home where they wanted to be.
John Milham (Host) · 20:58
Hmm. Yeah. So the idea of being isolated as a village is challenging. Who did you, you know, who suffered that and that you were able to help or, you know, saw being helped in a way, I guess, uh, you know, you mentioned belongings and stuff that you were seeing.
Bernadette Tolson (Guest) · 21:19
Hmm.
John Milham (Host) · 21:20
You know, so that's physical side, you know, that physical impact on the people in the village. Well, what did, you know, what was it like?
Bernadette Tolson (Guest) · 21:28
I guess for me, I was able to stop and chat to people only as a, you know, as a resident, if they wanted to chat. Physically, it was frustrating that we couldn't get in there earlier and help. And I think by the time we were able to get to the village. You know, things have been so well organized, but I think it was just the presence of turning up for the wonderful community meals that were on at nighttime, just having friendship with those people and just acknowledging that, yes, we was— we were safe, we didn't have the, the house damage, and that we were able to come and support people sitting around a meal was, was Food's always a wonderful healer.
John Milham (Host) · 22:16
Yeah, very much. So you, you, of course your property is a working property. So, uh, what was left for you to do after all of, uh, the water had gone?
Bernadette Tolson (Guest) · 22:27
That's a long story. How many hours do you have?
John Milham (Host) · 22:30
Yeah.
Bernadette Tolson (Guest) · 22:31
So we're still working on the recovery, but we had amazing help from, we very regularly in the wintertime, the autumn winter months have beyond ballooning. Land their balloons on our property. And again, you know, that's looking at some, not just the people in Broke, but the services, the tourism industry beyond Broke was damaged because they couldn't come and bring their flight, um, balloon flights. So Beyond Ballooning actually purchased some sort of grader or digger to help, um, make a, make a driveway for us. They came 4 or 5 guys came initially to come and do some fencing, repair some fences, and then came with their digger to make a, um, driveway for us. And then we had, um, oh, at the time we had the Army. They were just amazing young guys. I really enjoyed working on the property with them. They were 5 young guys, all about 20, just finished their first part of their military training, and it was wonderful. We had a wonderful day. They took about their girlfriends and about the army and about where they went to school. And sun was shining and they were in mud up to here. They, they did a great job. They were fantastic. Down the track, we had BlazeAid come and help with the fencing.
John Milham (Host) · 23:44
Wow.
Bernadette Tolson (Guest) · 23:44
They were, they were incredible. And then we had lots of friends who came, um, to help with, cuz we needed our grapes were on their side, right? Lucky the grapes were dormant, but we had lots of friends and relatives who came and helped with restoring the fences and the grapes, getting the grapes to stand up again because, well, it's all the vines had been knocked over, hadn't they?
John Milham (Host) · 24:05
Mm-hmm.
Bernadette Tolson (Guest) · 24:06
And it soon, once, once the property dried out, the vines started to shoot because it was going into springtime.
John Milham (Host) · 24:14
Right. Wow. And, and have the, and that the flood vintage, what's that gonna be like?
Bernadette Tolson (Guest) · 24:20
That was a bit of a disaster. And that was, an unknown for all of the vineyards around. And I think generally the crop was, the production was low, but the next year we, it picked up again. Yeah. So they, they were very resilient vines. They bounced back.
John Milham (Host) · 24:37
And the wine, what's it taste like?
Bernadette Tolson (Guest) · 24:40
It's great. Yes. You'll have to have a taste.
John Milham (Host) · 24:44
Sounds, sounds terrific. So, so the wine, the vines are resilient. It's. I've certainly recognized that the people are resilient. So how do you see that, you know, like you, the preparation and help you had putting your property back together? How did that work in the area, larger area?
Bernadette Tolson (Guest) · 25:05
I think for most people it's been a slow process. For some, they were able to move back into their homes, you know, quite quickly. Others still waiting for their homes to be rebuilt. Um, I guess, yeah, there's different levels of people being able to move back and, and recover. And I guess that's probably difficult for some who are still not back in their homes. Yeah. But I think for the properties around, again, it took a long time for fences to be restored and, um, livestock to be returned.
John Milham (Host) · 25:43
Yeah.
Bernadette Tolson (Guest) · 25:44
Grass to grow again for the livestock. Yeah.
John Milham (Host) · 25:49
Yeah. So much involved. Um, how do you think, um, the area is healing physically and, you know, personally, emotionally?
Bernadette Tolson (Guest) · 25:58
I, I think the village is, is, is coped very well. And as time gone has gone on, I think they're quite a resilient, um, group of people in the village. Um, tourism's back. The, um, We're looking forward to our bicentenary in, at the end of the year in October.
John Milham (Host) · 26:19
Yeah.
Bernadette Tolson (Guest) · 26:19
And that's bringing a lot of community together. And yeah, we've just been nominated as the one in one of the finalists in the top tourism town award. And I think people are taking a lot of pride in their, in their homes and their, in their front yards. And yeah, it's, it seems to be a buzz. There's a lot of significant people in the the village, you know, maybe it's the, the guy on the digger that's done a lot of work and he's a very social person. It's just those, it's networking. The fire brigade people are amazing. The Broke Residents Group. Yeah. So I think it is, I think it's bounced back.
John Milham (Host) · 26:58
Sometimes when we talk about bouncing back, like back to normal, do you think it's the same or is there, is there, has it changed? Is it bouncing forward to something new?
Bernadette Tolson (Guest) · 27:09
Um, I think it's bouncing forward. I think there's a, there appears to be a lot more connectedness in the village. Um, and I think that goes back to the early days when we had amazing community, after the initial, um, emergency center was demolished or, you know, disbanded. Then there was, you know, a big community dinner for everyone, which I think it was an amazing show of people who all turned up. And I think that was probably the beginning of the change of moving forward. Since then, there's been ongoing funding for, um, things like wellness sessions, yoga, mindfulness sessions, morning teas. And I think there's a lot more connectedness in those group settings that there was before, or the, and more people are aware of them.
John Milham (Host) · 28:01
Wow. That's amazing. What did you learn through all of this?
Bernadette Tolson (Guest) · 28:07
Um, the learning thing is that there were no major injuries, there were no fatalities. Um, it is a natural disaster and floods happen. Unfortunately for us, it was the biggest one possibly ever. Yeah, we, we're fortunate. We're a lucky lucky community, lucky country where we do have services and supports in place, and it's important for everyone to use those, not feel isolated. And for people who were feeling isolated and not wanting to go to the community centre, for someone to take them aside and encourage them to go and visit and, and be part, um, So I think, yeah, and understanding different people's emotional needs and mental health needs that may have been preexistent and then raise their nasty heads when these, when disasters happen.
John Milham (Host) · 29:08
Yeah.
Bernadette Tolson (Guest) · 29:08
Yeah.
John Milham (Host) · 29:10
What was, uh, what do you want to do differently going forward as a result of going through it differently?
Bernadette Tolson (Guest) · 29:16
Hopefully it never happens again.
John Milham (Host) · 29:18
Never again.
Bernadette Tolson (Guest) · 29:19
Yeah. Differently, I think the community are already doing things so that there would be— I am part of a couple of committees in Broke working on different things, but certainly the residents committee as a general being are looking at having contact people in certain areas. I think that would be helpful. Instead of me, and like I said, I didn't make phone calls because I was aware that a lot of people worse off than me but there would be one contact in a designated area, maybe about 5 throughout the area where that person would be taking phone calls and screening and helping people and keeping them up to date with what was happening. And I think I would like to take on one of those roles. But I think differently, otherwise differently, probably not a lot. Yeah, just have to stay calm.
John Milham (Host) · 30:17
What about as a person? Are you gonna, like, are you different in some way?
Bernadette Tolson (Guest) · 30:22
I think I'm probably not as anxious now about floods that, um, because certainly when the next flood, next heavy rains came, you know, I was very anxious. Um, as a person, um, overall, I think just more empathetic around other people and how they respond to disasters.
John Milham (Host) · 30:47
That's beautiful. Going, moving forward, right? With, you know, it's coming up to 2 years, an anniversary. Uh, you know, what, what do you hope your place looks like? Both your property and then the, the area. What, what, what do you hope it goes to? What it be and becomes?
Bernadette Tolson (Guest) · 31:06
Uh, I think it'll continue to grow and be a beautiful village, but still with a very rural aspect. So we've got this little tight-knit community, but around it we've got some amazing properties, which are, as you drive in, it's a beautiful setting. So my property, we still have a lot of devastation. I haven't mentioned that the riverbank, we had a massive, massive washaway, and we'd hope that that someday will be restored. We're not quite sure. How that's going to happen without hundreds of thousands of dollars spent. And our property will continue to be our little treasure. And we were very fortunate that we do have a glamping site on our riverbank, and that had been, that had survived the, had, had been put back on hold in March because of the floods. And then we were ready to have our first opening, our first guests It was a couple of weeks after the floods. It had been a long project which my son had been working on, and amazingly it was the only thing standing on the property. It survived. It's, if you see aerial photos, it is one little white tent. So we are hoping to have some more glamping sites, but not on the river. Yeah. Up on higher ground and continue with our accommodation opportunities. Yeah. And for me personally, have some time off work and potter around the property.
John Milham (Host) · 32:38
Enjoy all that beauty and resilience around you. Mm-hmm. Fabulous. Fabulous. All of that help, and you've expressed how wonderful that support and so on is. Is there anyone in particular that, you know, like stood out and that you're grateful you know, was in the area or so on, or any group or people that you particularly noticed?
Bernadette Tolson (Guest) · 33:04
I'd really like to acknowledge the support that the politicians, Dave Lyzell and Dan Repicoli, provided to the community. They were there for every meeting, you know, after the event. But prior to their appearance, you know, people like Evelyn, who I wasn't able to help, of course, but set up the emergency centre. Mick McArdle, he stepped up to the role. You know, there was a guy that I met at the hall, at the community centre, and he came from nowhere apparently and said he'd like to help. Well, he ended up managing all the whiteboards, and when I couldn't believe going down there, and I think there were 5 whiteboards and everyone had a number with a name next to it. And these guys and the, the mining company came on board and they were just designating number, job numbers to people. That was incredible. I couldn't believe that that could happen. And that none of them have had that experience before. Wow. There was a lady, Angela, who lived across the river and she had to be evacuated. Her place was flooded. She set up a Give It Foundation, uh, fundraising group, and that money then was, um, allocated to people through a committee of who needed that money. She was amazing as far as doing the, um, social media. And, and other people who— the fire brigade, Kathleen and her team at the fire brigade, they worked endlessly day and night. All the fire brigade people. Yes, all those All those volunteers.
John Milham (Host) · 34:40
It's a wonderful story from, you know, I don't know, how do you describe such a challenging event? But I'm so pleased to hear the, you know, the stories of initially the, you know, facing the challenge. But the great, the best bit is to hear about how the community can put collectively responded and supported each other. It's so inspiring. And your story in particular, I would like to acknowledge your part in the ongoing healing and recovery and of course your family getting through what is a terrible time. So well done, Bernadette. And I'd just like to say thank you so much for joining and sharing your story with Smoking Singer Heroes.
Bernadette Tolson (Guest) · 35:31
Thanks for the opportunity, John.
John Milham (Host) · 35:33
It's been terrific. Cheers, talk soon. Thank you for listening to this week's episode of Beyond the Deluge about the 2022 floods in Broke and the Hunter Valley. If anything in this conversation has had a triggering effect, please seek support and find someone who can help keep you safe. Please share the show to your friends, family, and colleagues so we can to help more people with their recovery from natural disaster. If you'd like to find out more about Kintsugi Heroes and our other podcasts, please head to kintsugiheroes.com.au. Our theme song was provided by Colin Lilly. Thanks to Matthew Bliss for editing and production and to John Millum for hosting the conversations. And most of all, thank you to the community of Broke and the Hunter Valley for sharing their lived experience with us. We'll see you next week in Beyond the Deluge. Only when it's broken. Only when it's broken.
Bernadette Tolson (Guest) · 36:41
When it hits you in the middle of the night and the truth burns so bright. Only when it's broken.
John Milham (Host) · 36:53
Only when it's broken.
Bernadette Tolson (Guest) · 36:58
Take pride in those cries. It's only for tonight. And then you rise. Only when you're broken. Only when you're broken. Only when you're broken.
You don't have to be in crisis to call.
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