Beyond the Deluge
Carly Dawson · 52 min
A newcomer who had only lived in Broke for a year — sick with COVID and alone — found that the worst flood in 70 years became the moment she truly understood what community means.
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Carly had only lived in Broke for a year when she bought the house there. After years of traveling with her son in a caravan, she was ready to stop moving. She found work at a winery, put her goats on the property, and was starting to build a life in the quiet Hunter Valley village. Then July 6th, 2022 came.
She was sick with COVID and alone when the rain that had been falling for weeks turned into something no one expected. The 1949 flood, which locals still remembered, had come from a different direction. This one breached the village in ways people thought were impossible. Carly woke to a lapping sound at her back door, thinking for a moment she was in a boat. The water was rising fast. A workmate named Gary came to check on her. A friend with higher ground offered shelter. A neighbor waded through debris to help her hook up a caravan. Within hours, Carly went from isolation to being held by her community.
What happened next was harder to name. Seeing neighbors' houses destroyed meters from her own. Watching a family with three children lose everything because they rented instead of owned, and fall through the gaps of government support. Strangers coming to gawk at the wreckage like it was a spectacle. The piles of debris and erosion holes that took weeks to disappear, making it impossible to stop looking at what had been lost.
But there was something else. Eating meals together at the community hall. Hearing people's stories and being heard. Knowing her neighbors far better than a year of ordinary living would have allowed. Learning, in the wreckage, that looking after the people around you and being looked after matters more than anything else.
⚠️ Content advisory: this episode discusses grief & loss, which some listeners may find distressing.
If you need support, you're not alone. Help is available: • Lifeline (24/7 crisis support): 13 11 14 · lifeline.org.au • GriefLine: 1300 845 745 · griefline.org.au
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