Ivan Smith · 46 min
When the 2022 River Murray floods threatened to silence an entire town, one retired mechanic-turned-communications expert quietly built a solar-powered radio network that kept emergency services connected, and then went door to door to hold his neighbours together.
Hear this story
Ivan Smith was born and bred in Renmark, a town on the Murray River where his grandfather and father worked as woodcutters. He spent decades as a motor mechanic before moving into electronics and radio communications, eventually working on the government emergency services network across South Australia. When the 2022 floods threatened the Riverland, Ivan's property four kilometers out of town and on higher ground meant he wasn't facing displacement. That safety freed him to do something else: watch his neighbors and community carefully, and help them prepare.
Ivan saw a critical vulnerability. The town's power lines all ran from a single substation across the river flats. If one pole fell in the flood, the town would lose power, then phone networks, then all communication. He didn't just identify the problem. He brought a solution to council: two independent, solar-powered radio networks that would work even if the main power grid failed. One system let emergency managers coordinate with locals who had CB radios in their trucks. The other gave council a private management network. He borrowed over 50 handheld radios from the local Dinghy Club and set everything up before the water came. The poles never fell, but the networks were ready.
While council and contractors reinforced the flood banks, Ivan went door to door with neighbors who lived outside the protected areas. He helped an elderly couple save not just their paperwork but her sewing equipment, explaining that protecting what she valued would matter for her mental health when cleanup began. He rode the flood banks each morning with the inspection team, watching debris and destruction pile into fruit growers' properties downstream. He saw livelihoods drown. Two years later, vines and pistachio trees still haven't recovered. Ivan believes his generation has a responsibility to lead younger people through crisis with a steady, positive example. That's how a town holds itself together when the water recedes and the real work begins.
“I wasn't worrying about my property, it allowed me time to focus on others and just sit back and watch others.”
“I said, 'It does matter. Might not matter now, but when it comes clean up time and you're going through all this stuff that's covered in mud, if you get flooded, that's when it matters and for their mental health then.'”
“The week before the floods they were all competition in business against each other and all of a sudden they just gelled into one one big group.”
The hero, today
Ivan moved into electronics and radio communications because he saw early that lifting heavy gearboxes for the rest of his life would wear him down. Because Ivan's property was on higher ground and safe from the flood, he had the mental space to help neighbors prepare their homes and offer them moral support when they were overwhelmed. Ivan brought a concrete proposal to the council, not just a problem: a solar-powered communications system that would work if the power grid failed, which they implemented before the flood arrived. Protecting a flooded person's belongings, even things that seem unimportant, matters for their mental health during the cleanup and recovery that follows. Ivan believes older people in a crisis have a responsibility to lead with a positive attitude and demonstrate to younger generations how to respond to hardship.
Yes. Ivan Smith 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.
Ivan moved into electronics and radio communications because he saw early that lifting heavy gearboxes for the rest of his life would wear him down.
Because Ivan's property was on higher ground and safe from the flood, he had the mental space to help neighbors prepare their homes and offer them moral support when they were overwhelmed.
Ivan brought a concrete proposal to the council, not just a problem: a solar-powered communications system that would work if the power grid failed, which they implemented before the flood arrived.
Protecting a flooded person's belongings, even things that seem unimportant, matters for their mental health during the cleanup and recovery that follows.
John Milham (Host) · 00:00
Kintsugi Heroes brings you the following River Murray flood recovery story, jointly funded by the Commonwealth and South Australian governments under the Disaster Recovery Funding Arrangements. To find out more about this podcast, head to kintsugiheroes.com.au. The 2022 River Murray floods in South Australia were caused by record water inflows from the Murray-Darling Basin due to heavy upstream rainfall. The slowly rising floodwaters inundated homes, businesses, and farmland, causing widespread displacement, infrastructure damage, and agricultural losses. The disaster significantly impacted local economies, communities, and led to the region's long-term recovery. In this special limited series of Kintsugi Heroes, John Milham sits down with members of the Riverlands community and gives them space to share their experiences of their personal adversity diversity and community resilience. It's only through connection and empathy that there can be a path to recovery. In this episode, John Milham is joined by Ivan Smith. A local by birth, Ivan spent decades as a motor mechanic before shifting his focus to radio communications. In 2022, when the Riverland floods hit, Ivan used his expertise to help the community stay connected. He worked to set up independent communication networks for the emergency services and the ensuring they could manage the crisis effectively. His proactive approach and personal assistance to his neighbors, combined with his deep community roots, provided critical support during a challenging time. Join us as Ivan shares his journey of innovation and resilience. So, Kintsugi Heroes fans, uh, friends, and listeners, Welcome back to another, uh, Continue Heroes podcast. And today, uh, we are once again, um, following our, um, the stories of, uh, the floods in the Riverland area. Today we're talking to a man who, um, uh, has an interesting side of the story because one of the things we know from, um, talking to, uh, people who have, who have gone through, you know, flooding and, and fires and things, is one of the things that happens is people are caught by surprise by the, what, uh, the impact of not having communication, not hearing stories, not being able to confirm how people are, contact the authorities, etc. And, uh, today our guest was, was ahead of the game on that and was actually assisting the emergency services to set up something that would mitigate that. Ivan Smith, welcome to Consiggy Heroes Beyond the Dellutes.
Ivan Smith (Guest) · 03:01
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This conversation includes born and bred in renmark, his grandfather's wood on the riverbank, working the government radio network, four kilometers out and higher ground, sitting back to watch others and one pole falling could bring down the whole town.
Good afternoon, John.
John Milham (Host) · 03:02
And mate, you're a local. You mentioned many decades. What's your— how did you end up in the Riverland area? And what's your backstory?
Ivan Smith (Guest) · 03:17
Yeah, born and bred in Renmark, never ever left here, and done my apprenticeship as a motor mechanic and then set up my own business and been self-employed for the last 45 years until I retired.
John Milham (Host) · 03:32
So yeah, you started out fixing all the locals' cars, right? So, but, um, but that's not where you ended up, right? How, uh, tell us a little bit about where you, uh, where you made a change, right, that became significant for the, for the area.
Ivan Smith (Guest) · 03:47
Yeah, my hobby had always been radio communications and electronics and what have you. So I studied, once I became a qualified mechanic, I studied electronics and, um, and I slowly moved into that field because I identified at a young age that I won't want to be lifting heavy gearboxes over me head all the time. Yeah, yeah, I wanted to head somewhere a bit easier.
John Milham (Host) · 04:14
Yeah, it was like my dad was a mechanic and, uh, I, I realized that my fingernails couldn't go through what his looked like, right? So yeah, I think he— yeah, that was the soft bit of me. But, uh, yeah, no, um, and so a country boy, your family had moved to Redmark. Were you a river man? Are you a water man?
Ivan Smith (Guest) · 04:34
Yeah, yeah, yeah. The, uh, my grandfather and my father were woodcutters. Grandfather used to cut cut wood along the riverbank and put it in heaps for the paddle— back in the paddleboat era. And, uh, the boats would come along and pick up the wood for their boilers and continue on. So started my history is in Renmark from a, from a way back. Wow.
John Milham (Host) · 04:58
And everyone seems to have some, um, uh, you know, some part of their, their story is woven around the, the river at in, in this area. Like, well, Wrenmark's an island, so I guess that's part of this story. So the floods in 2022, now you were, you were actually operating in, you talked about electronics, but you were in communication and network, weren't you?
Ivan Smith (Guest) · 05:23
Yes, I'd left, uh, left the mechanical game many years before that and, uh, got serious into the communications field and ended up working on the government radio network. Which is utilized by a lot of the, or all of the emergency services in South Australia.
John Milham (Host) · 05:42
So that's the UHF network. That's the one that connects people, you know, on the bands when they need to talk, you know, the fireys and, you know, services and so on.
Ivan Smith (Guest) · 05:51
Yeah. Yeah. Not the general public, just like the police and fireys, AMBOs, State Emergency Service, Country Fire Service. That, that type of communications.
John Milham (Host) · 06:05
And when you say worked on it, was like, yeah, you know, what was involved in, like, what's involved in sort of getting a network out? Because this country is a tough place to, to link people up, isn't it?
Ivan Smith (Guest) · 06:16
Yeah, it's a big place. And, uh, I actually worked a lot for the State Emergency Service, who I also volunteered for, and I traveled around the state because they had the first series of radios put in. I then had to travel around the state and remove all of them and fit the next, uh, series of radios into every station around the state. So very interesting job and just makes you realize how remote we are and how necessary it is to have the network working properly.
John Milham (Host) · 06:47
So fab, that's amazing. Um, so 2022 Your particular property, you were telling me that you felt confident, like when you got, you know, had the noise that a flood was coming, which was sort of, there was a bit of pre-warning, right? So you had, you were confident that you personally were gonna be all okay. Why was that?
Ivan Smith (Guest) · 07:14
Yeah, I'd lived out of the Renmark township. I'm about 4 kilometers out and a little bit higher ground, so I was And I was, um, the 1956 flood didn't get anywhere near it. So I was reasonably confident that I'd be okay, which allowed me to focus my thoughts and what I'd learned in, uh, emergency services and whatever. I could focus on where I could see maybe issues coming up and, and then act on them.
John Milham (Host) · 07:44
With that level of sort of oversight, did you see You know, and you know the town well, obviously. Did you see where the problems would be? Were you looking and saying, oh, that person's gonna have a trouble, oh, you know, gonna have an issue with the flood? And was it that obvious really?
Ivan Smith (Guest) · 08:01
Yeah. Yeah. Because, well, it was to me.
John Milham (Host) · 08:04
Yeah.
Ivan Smith (Guest) · 08:04
A lot of people it wouldn't have been, but because I wasn't, um, worrying about my property, um, it allowed me time to focus on others and just sit back and watch others. And that's something we learned out of the, um, like when I was in the, in the Metro Fire Service and the training we had there, you tend to look at things like that. And I was able to sit back and see some people that were, that lived on the outside of the floodbank, like the unprotected areas. You could see they were gonna have issues and some of them were friends and that. So I was able to offer, go and help 'em prepare their places and and more importantly, offer them moral support and just be there to listen for them. So, but I could also see when I come into town each time across the river flats, all the power lines run out of a substation that head into the town to feed the town power. And I thought, well, if one of those poles fall over, then they can't get out there and stand it up again, we'll be without power. And That's what got me thinking about communications. Um, cause they'll be the first thing that fails, the telephone networks and everything. So I, um, come up with a bit of a plan to present to council and, um, see what they thought about it.
John Milham (Host) · 09:25
I love that. I love that idea, mate. You, you're looking there and you don't, you don't look across the place and you're from your background, you've gone, oh, I can see, uh, you know, one of them. Like one of the poles fall over, we're going to be in trouble. It's not something I would have picked up. It's, it's a— I love that you picked it up and then you took that plan and were proactive enough to, to take it into the— how was that received? Like, did people recognize it? Because I've often, from asking other people in other places or, you know, dealing with other emergencies, they're often surprised by the, by the lack of, of service that they, you know, when they're cut off from power, you know, or communications, they're often surprised by the impact of that. Um, because if power goes down now, there's nothing. There's no internet, there's no computers or telephones or radio.
Ivan Smith (Guest) · 10:20
Yeah. Well, that, that's, that's exactly what happens. And then it becomes very difficult to manage an event then. Yeah. But Um, so I sat down and wrote up a bit of a proposal, come and seen the CEO of the council and told him what I had in mind and what I thought could happen. But, um, but I also come with what I considered to be a solution to the problem that I prepared. And I said, look, I think this could happen, but I think this is how we can fix it. And he took that straight on board and organized. He then wanted me to, uh, um, do that same presentation. They had already formed a flood emergency management committee group of key people, so I come along and done a presentation to them, um, which was very well received. I think there was a few surprise looks around the conference table for a little while, and they looked at it, took on board what I said, and then we implemented, um, two different systems that were all completely standalone. I solar powered them. I didn't want to rely on any third-party infrastructure, so everything was done, um, done that wouldn't be affected by the loss of our network.
John Milham (Host) · 11:39
Well, and that's how it proved, wasn't it? Right.
Ivan Smith (Guest) · 11:44
Yeah, yeah. And that's what I've done. Like, we Luckily, we never got to use the system because the power poles didn't fall over, but certainly the potential was there. But, uh, it worked really well. The, uh, I put two systems in. Um, the general public can ever have UHF CB radios or citizen bands radios, so we put in a system for that which would allow the council key people to to talk to many of the locals that have CBs in their cars and whatever. But I also put in another private network which the key people in council could then, like, use that as their management tool to organize everybody that they needed to. Um, the CB system, all the contractors that were here preparing the flood banks, so they all had CBs in their trucks. So it just opened up a huge big network that, uh, that would allow management ahead of the, the whole system going down. And, um, it was really great. One of the local businessmen here that's been here for many years, he's got a nice big tower on his property up on, up on the high country. So went and seen him and told him about the proposal. He said, go for your life, use the tower. And So it all come together with some community involvement. So, so it was good. And the private network I built was, um, I'd previously built that for the, uh, we've got a thing up here called the Riverland Dinghy Club where we race boats around creeks and what have you. And I built them a network, a radio network to manage that event. And I went to the committee of the dinghy club and said, look, this is what I propose to council. We want to pinch all your radios. And so that give us a huge resource of radios. In the end, I'd set up over 50 portable handheld radios that we could— the council could use, had if we need it. So it'll come together pretty good.
John Milham (Host) · 13:51
I love that proactivity and, you know, can-do. Terrific story. And it, you know, it's been noted— I've seen it's been a lesson from other, other events where You know, people have had, you know, after the event, they've gone and said, we need to implement, you know, a CB solution or UHF solution. So with base stations and things. So, you know, you're way ahead of the game. Well done. I'm interested because you were just a, you know, just a young, young bloke, um, in '56. What was the, what was the story? Was there a lore, like a sort of story, a myth around 1956? '86, and, you know, people who knew what had happened then, did they have a different attitude to other people who had no idea about what it was like to be in flood?
Ivan Smith (Guest) · 14:40
Yeah, I think there was a lot of, a lot of that. The older generation that seen the flood, I was only about a bit over 3 when that hit. I can vaguely remember some of the big machinery and that building the flood banks and cause we used a lot of little, um, grey Fergie tractors here cause they were small enough to build the banks and whatever. So there was a huge lot of input from, um, that age person that was involved in it back then. And, um, then of course we had a lot of opinion from younger ones that had not seen a big flood too. So it was pretty interesting, but that would've been quite a thing for the council to have to deal with. Yeah. Yeah. Luckily Luckily I wasn't in on that management part of it.
John Milham (Host) · 15:27
Well, they listened to you, did, did, you know, obviously, and the, and the banks were, were a success in Renmark at least, right? So, um, the, they obvi— they must have listened to some of the, some of the wisdom that was out there. How did you think it, it all went, right? It was a pretty challenging scenario. Could have, could have been a lot worse.
Ivan Smith (Guest) · 15:48
Oh, we could have lost the town quite easily and, uh, I personally think the council handled it very well. They become very proactive early in the piece before the flood got here. And I think probably the problem we've got with the flood banks, when they were built back in 1956, a lot of them are still there. And they went back then, they just build them where, well, we need to put a flood bank straight through Joe Blow's private property. So That, that become a major, has been a major issue ever since about, you know, who's responsible for the flood banks. And we, there's lots went on there about that. And, uh, but very early in the piece, Grant Stevens, a police superintendent, um, boss, he declared it an emergency, um, which then allows, gives Council different rights that what they can do, which then allowed them to go and fix the flood banks. And because a lot of the flood banks had been— had sections of them pushed out and pushed over.
Ivan Smith (Guest) · 19:31
I think that the council very early in the piece formed a, um, not quite sure if it's proper title, I'll call it a communications team, where they were constantly putting communications out through various sources over the local ABC radio station and on the internet, um, you know, like Facebook modes and, and the local paper and what have you. And there was a great flow of information all the time, which, which helped to try and stop the fears of some people. But I had friends and people I know that lived on the outside of the floodbank area, which was unprotected, and I went and helped some of them. And, and as much as anything, just be there and just listen to them, let them talk and just listen, and But then, you know, some of the things I'd do and say— one family, an elderly couple, said, 'Oh, just get our paperwork out and leave the house.' I said, 'No, we can do better than that,' and just encouraged them and let them be. Because when something like you see a flood coming, it's very easy for people to sit back and just be overwhelmed by the whole situation. And if you can have somebody there guiding them to say, come on, let's do this. And, and there's one little bit of a story out of that, though. We'd got pretty much everything lifted. We lifted it all up in the house, all the furniture. We put pallets in his house and stacked all the furniture up. And anyhow, they said, oh, The lady said, don't worry about that bit of gear. And I said, no, it's important we get that up. It was to do with her hobby of sewing and what have you. And I said— and she said, no, it doesn't matter. And she was quite upset. And I said, it does matter. I said, might not matter now, but when it comes cleanup time and you're, you're going through all this stuff that's covered in mud and what have you, if if you get flooded, and that's when it matters, and for their mental health then. And so I had the opportunity to be able to do that for a few other people too, which was very, to me, rewarding, because being involved with, um, with the fire service and the SES, or seeing the aftermath of, of trauma to people, and I was able to assist there, which was, which was a, I've got a lot of satisfaction out of being able to offer that to them.
John Milham (Host) · 22:19
So that's awesome, uh, like special of you, you to do it. And, you know, the team, you know, SES and, uh, and other, uh, services that come together at this time are just, you know, gold. How do you think the town went? Were they, were they good?, you know, are dealing with this? Do you think they, you know, the services work together? We've spoken about the council and the emergency committee.
Ivan Smith (Guest) · 28:40
Yes. Um, yeah, a lot of them were in a lot of trouble. Um, It's things like, um, we've got a big problem up here with all the vineyards, uh, up here with the grapes, is, uh, they use pine posts and once they get a little bit old they break. And, um, and there's no sort of central position to take all your broken posts, so many fruit blockers have just sort of stacked them on their property on, on the riverside at floodbanks, and, um, I've seen them just float away because, um, and then I'd— they would float downstream a bit, but then other people that had fruit blocks downstream, all these posts floated in amongst their fruit blocks and made a terrible mess. Once I'd, um, established the communication system for the council Um, they actually invited me to be part of the team to ride the— we had some little Gators, little four-wheel drive side-by-side vehicles that they invited me to inspect the flood banks, be part of the team that inspected the flood banks each morning. We went out a bit after daylight and rode around and inspected the flood banks and which allowed me to see who was getting really badly affected by— because when you're up on the floodbank, you were looking at both sides, and you could see all the rubbish floating into these people's properties. And it was a terrible mess that they've had to deal with, and, and that really broke some of them. But it was such a— just become such a big daunting mess to fix, it can become overwhelming for them and, uh, it makes very difficult for them, unfortunately.
John Milham (Host) · 30:40
Yeah. Uh, one of the things you notice, you know, uh, you know, the adrenaline of an emergency and, you know, coming together and all these, you know, heroic efforts, um, you know, people dig down and work together, as you said, you know, described it beautifully. How, um, everyone responded and was, um, you know, contributing. And, uh, after the event, the water goes down, there's nothing but mud. It's not spectacular and that adrenaline is gone. How does it, how does a town or a community and people within that, how do they get through? How do they keep going? How do they recover and get back to something that they, uh, had before?
Ivan Smith (Guest) · 31:23
Yeah, well, um, it becomes a lot, a lot of hard work for some of them. Some of them weren't able to do that, um, because they had their fruit blocks on the floodplains. It got flooded and just ended up a heck of a mess. And, um, they've just left it because the flood killed the vines, had drowned them. Um, and you can drive around then, they still see it there, drowned. They've not recovered from it. They've— and, um, I've got another mate that had, uh, he planted up a huge big area of pistachios, and, uh, other self-employed guy up here, and that was going to be his retirement, his superannuation retirement fund, and he lost a lot, and the trees all drowned and that. And, um, I've seen him every now and then and have a chat with him, and, uh, but it's very difficult for those guys. They've really lost a lot, and most of that stuff like that's not insured, so they've lost it. It's terrible.
John Milham (Host) · 32:27
It's, um, it's hard to watch, uh, you know, a town, you know, suffer those wounds and see people struggle through that. Does it change a town, do you think? Uh, you know, does it make it stronger? Is it something that, you know, people just accept and move on?
Ivan Smith (Guest) · 32:45
Yeah, yeah, really don't know about that because I only have seen the people that I know that were adversely affected. Um, how the town goes generally over that, I— everybody that survived it with the council done a good job building the banks and kept the town dry, um, have just moved on and got on with life. But there's, you know, some out there that don't have the income anymore off the grapes or properties. It's, um, yeah, it's, you know, you know, I couldn't really comment on that. It's, um, but when I look at what happened here, then you look at some of the, um, the films and whatever, the footage of downstream from here that didn't get quite prepared so, so well, I, I really feel for those people that lost everything, you know. So we used to hear some interesting stories when we were riding around the floodbanks each morning, because the general public aren't allowed on floodbanks. And we'd see the police each morning and stop and have a chat with them. And they quite often, because there was so much work here, they were coming from downstream towns too, and What they were telling us they see floating down the river was, you know, rainwater tanks and all sorts of things. And the damage down further downstream, it was horrific. So we were very lucky as a town. Luck, I guess, luck's maybe not the right word. The, uh, we were very fortunate that the council, uh, prepared the town to withstand the flood.
John Milham (Host) · 37:46
So, yeah, fantastic. What, what do you, um, what do you hope happens from here?
Ivan Smith (Guest) · 37:57
Um, I think with our planning, like the, uh, planning for future developments, take in consideration the, the new data they now have for, for estimating river flows and river levels. I think, um, is— I think that's a really good thing to take from this flood, to— so that we try and prevent people having such big losses, which is, you know, to have the loss of your property is one thing, but the, the mental problems that can cause a whole different, a whole bigger problem. So yeah, I hope that planning authorities take a lot from that. We now have relevant information. So, um, yeah, I certainly hope that that's probably the single biggest thing, is to make it better to protect properties in the future.
John Milham (Host) · 38:53
From the outside, people look at the lifestyle and the challenges of living in a place like Renmark, remote, rural, challenging, marginal in some ways, right? With relying on the agriculture and tourism and so on, which can be quite challenging. Is it worth it? Is Renmark worth it? Is the Riverland worth it?
Ivan Smith (Guest) · 39:21
I think the lifestyle is definitely worth it. It's, um, it's, you need farmers for the people to eat. And, um, um, you know, we've got a lot of that here. We've got dry land farming a bit further out from Renmark, as you said, the whole Riverlands region. Um, we've got dry land farming cereals and whatever, and then the huge almond developments here, wine grapes, oranges, and stone fruits and whatever. It's certainly a lot of challenges at the moment, um, because as we've got over the flood, the, uh, the poor fruit blockers are now dealing with the fruit fly outbreak. So it's, uh, it, as I said, it certainly has its challenges here, but I think the lifestyle and the river it's, um, pretty relaxed and what have you. Um, we have good services as far as, um, medical support and that from Adelaide with the Flying Doctor Service and what have you. So it's, we're not all that far from the city with, without all the, the traffic and, and whatever you say. Yeah, that's a good spot to live for sure.
John Milham (Host) · 40:33
You don't have to be in crisis to call.
John Milham (Host) · 16:58
A lot of good fill for a garden there.
Ivan Smith (Guest) · 17:02
Yeah, so clay. But, um, we'd had some instance of really big rains, um, and because we got flood banks around the town, but when we had the big rains out the fruit block areas, they held the water in the fruit blocks. So I can remember people out in, uh, in their tinnies picking their— going up and down their blocks in their standing in their tinnies picking apricots. And what happened back then, people thought, well, I've got to save my block, save all the trees. I just pushed the floodbank out the way. So, um, with the council being very proactive and given the rights to be able to just go through and fix the flood banks, it all come together extremely well. They engaged the right people, engaged an engineer and had really solid plans on how to, you know, like fix this little— they went around and surveyed the entire flood bank. Networks, 34 kilometers or something of flood banks here. Went around and surveyed them all so they knew with the water coming up, we needed to go and put 300mm of dirt on that one and this one over here would be all right. So no, they done a really good job protecting the town for sure. And, um, you know, I thought, well, it's, it's everybody's responsibility to put in and try and help a little bit if they can, you know, if they're in a position to, and, uh, That's why I thought it was— the town had been very good to me. I've had my business here and it's really good to be able to give something back to the town, something positive.
John Milham (Host) · 18:46
So, oh yeah, it's a great idea. I'm interested because you talked about your friends being impacted and one of your roles, you know, you were going to support get the place ready, but one of your roles was just encouraging, maybe just you know, uh, just being there as moral support or emotional support. It's interesting because, you know, part of the process of, um, the town is, uh, you know, like people in this town is to have, uh, you know, the fear of, of what's going to happen, the unknown, right? How did, how do you think, uh, the town managed that side of things, the moral support and coming together to look after each other?
Ivan Smith (Guest) · 22:45
Yes. Yeah, the services did work good because obviously in an event that big, the State Emergency Service is the leading agency to handle it. But we've had, you know, we had the police assisting the Country Fire Service, CFS. They, um, because like this SES and CFS are volunteers, volunteers are getting a bit thin on the ground these days. And, um, so they all, they come together as a group and, um, we had groups coming from all over the state, you know, Rostedon. They would come up here and, and do various tasks, tasks that needed to be done and, uh, Whatever you say, really, that come together very well.
John Milham (Host) · 23:33
Oh, that's good news. Your, your friends and, you know, the people who were impacted, right? So people behind the wall, people on the other side of the wall who were dealing with, uh, the, the water itself. Um, that's a strange situation, isn't it? You know, where some people are, uh, are behind the wall and they're okay. How did that play out?
Ivan Smith (Guest) · 23:56
Um, it was just what you got to remember, a lot of this where the floodbanks are is off history, off the '56 flood. And yeah, houses are being built on the other side because they want a nice view of the waterfront and yeah, and what have you. And, uh, yeah, yeah, it was, um, but a lot of the people that did live on the riverside of the floodbanks and that built their own floodbanks around their properties, right? And, uh, yeah. Um, they had to go to that expense to, to get that done. And, uh, and there's many people like that that protected their own properties, and, um, which was pretty difficult for them because the most— a big majority of the contractors, the earth-moving contractors, they come from far and wide, you know, to help. Um, it was difficult to get front-end loader and a truck to come out and protect your property. So we're in high demand there. So, but it was, um, it was really good to see. Um, we had, um, road trains going down the main street, you know, 3 trailers on them, which normally wouldn't happen. And the general public, you could see them, they would give way to the road trains. Um, Even when they had right of way, you would see them wave the trucks through. And there was a great atmosphere from a lot of the town people that were very positive to let the guys get on and get the job done. And it was really good. It was so many different contractors all working together that, you know, the week before the floods, we're all working, they're all competition in business against each other, and all of a sudden they just gelled into one, one big group. Um, it worked extremely well, and to my knowledge, um, for the huge amount of dirt carted and laid down and whatever, I believe there was no injuries. So to run something that big is— it was a pretty big thing to see that there was no injuries. So everybody was very conscious and courteous of, of the big machinery moving around. So it was good to see.
John Milham (Host) · 26:16
Good story. It's a good news story to see a town respond like that. Um, what did the— what, what do you think the town learned from this experience?
Ivan Smith (Guest) · 26:27
Um, everything, um, since 1956 flood was based on those levels and those flows. And most people have got an opinion of what a flood's gonna do and whatever, you be it misinformed, right or wrong. But I think the big thing from the, the town can take away from this flood is we didn't have any more relevant data since 1956. We've now got relevant data And what's changed is, um, things have been built on the floodplains, like causeways to make our road system better. And well, that all holds water up. So, and what we seen was a much higher level of water with a lot less flow than happened in, um, or the water wasn't higher than '56, but we nearly got to the '56 level with a a lot less flow, and that's because of the obstructions we've built downstream across the river plains. And, um, so there's certainly a lot to be taken from that. So like the building codes, you know, if you build a house here, had to be built above the 1956 level, you had to build the ground up, whatever. Well, that's, you know, we now have much more relevant data which which is certainly going to enhance further, uh, developments or know what to expect. So it was, it was a lot learned from it in, in, in that region for sure.
John Milham (Host) · 28:07
That's, yeah, that's great. The interesting, um, so your friends outside who were preparing for the water and, you know, obviously the deluge came through surprising everyone. Right. Really with its, with its levels. Um, and they would've, you know, people, you know, the cleanup is, is overwhelming and then the loss of things. How, how did you see the, those people coping? Uh, it's been 2 years and there are still people who are dealing with the out, the outcomes, right?
John Milham (Host) · 34:29
So yeah. And of course, Riverland is a, is a district as well as, you know, Renmark is one end and, um, you know, sets the agenda really for the, for the river that goes through. That river also is, it's not just, uh, you know, a challenge at flood time. It's also the lifeblood, the, you know, part of the, the attraction of the place, right? And the beauty. What is it? What is the, what is Renmark to you? And what is the Riverland to you?
Ivan Smith (Guest) · 34:58
Yeah, it's one of those things. Once you've got some Murray mud and Murray water in your veins, you know, even if you leave it, you come back. Generally, it's, um, it's a great place to live. It's a very good atmosphere, very good environment, and some great scenery and whatever for the tourists. And of course, when we have a flood and the water starts to recede um, the yabbies get going. So we had people coming from far and wide yabbying. There was some, some really good— that attracted a lot of people up here, which, you know, when they come in from other towns, other areas, it brings in dollars. They've got to buy a bit of fuel and whatever, and it all helps in the recovery.
John Milham (Host) · 35:43
So, but, um, there's always some form of silver lining, isn't it?
Ivan Smith (Guest) · 35:47
Yeah, absolutely. And it's been really good for the fish stocks in the river too. The, uh, the— after the flood, the, the river come alive with fishing. It's, uh, been very good. A lot of people are out, um, catching cod. It's open season on cod. You got to catch and release them, but lots of big cod being caught. So it's been really good for the river, um, in that point of view, but not so good for the damage it's done. But It's the floods. The other thing that happens with the floods, because we've got a big paddle boat, um, houseboat industry up here, it shifted all the sandbars in the— along the river. And we've caught a few houseboats running into them and having to back off of them. And, and the sandbars that weren't there before are now, and whatever. So that's, uh, it's— it really does clean the river up. It's a lot of flow. It's made it nice and fresh. And, uh, and we were lucky here in Renmark. Is our, uh, the two big caravan parks here that are on the waterfront, um, they both had to build their own flood banks, but both, um, protected their property. So as soon as the flood was over, um, they, they were able to get, um, clients back in there. Accommodation and, and whatever. So, and that helped get the town along too, because, um, with the flood and it stopped a lot of tourism and we weren't allowed on the water at all, um, it— that put a lot of people out of work. Um, you know, the cleaners at the caravan park, for example, um, they were out of work then. So as soon as it dropped down, and because they'd saved their assets. They could open the parks up and people had work again. So that all helps part of the recovery system, which was good to see the town up and vibrant again and moving along.
Yeah, no, amazing. Um, the challenges of moving of rural Australia, being connected, getting the services. As you said, you're not far from the city, but sometimes can be a long way, you know, even a couple hundred kilometers, right? Why do you think, um, you know, Australians go to the bush? What, what, what, like, you've been, you've lived there all your life, your ancestors were, um, you know, literally cutting their, their, their, uh, their way through the, the lands through the bush. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Um, Yeah, why do you think, uh, it calls Australians?
Ivan Smith (Guest) · 41:12
I think it's the lifestyle. It's, um, it's reasonably relaxed. Um, um, and you've got the river there. It's, it's, I think, just a lifestyle thing that, um, um, generally people here know pretty much each other and will lend a hand when it's needed. Um, you know, I go to my daughter's place down Adelaide and she doesn't even know her next-door neighbors, you know. And, uh, we're, we're here, if something goes wrong, if we, we see a fire coming or something, you all go and see your neighbors and make sure they're right and whatever. And I think that's, that's not only the Riverland, I think that's country lifestyle pretty much everywhere, you know. So It's just a good relaxing place to live.
John Milham (Host) · 42:02
So not just the river, it's the people on the river.
Ivan Smith (Guest) · 42:05
Yeah, well, the people make it, don't they? That's for sure. Yeah, it's great. We've got some good schools here and good hospitals and whatever. So like you say, we're not that far from Adelaide, really, from the bigger services when we need them. It's, um, and there's always a lot of development going up in here. They're slowly filling up the fine black spots and, uh, um, out of the flood we had a, uh, a new, um, Front Town Wharf or has been just rebuilt and recently opened, which looks magnificent at the moment. And, uh, we're nearly got the, a bridge, one of the bridges to the entries. There's only 3 entries. Into Renmark. And, um, one of those entries, like you said before, it's an island. Um, one of the bridges got, um, impacted pretty bad and couldn't be used. And that's well and truly on its way to being fixed, and, uh, which will give the people that live out Renmark West just quicker access into the town center. So, uh, so it's a lot's happened since the flood with the recovery system, and it's It's moving forward and it'll be back to normal soon.
John Milham (Host) · 43:22
Well, it sounds amazing. And, and your story in particular, I love, um, how you saw an issue and jumped on it. Um, it's been wonderful to talk to you, Ivan. Um, thank you for your, um, you so beautifully describing the place, uh, that you live both in Challenge and the reason you stay there out and, um, and follow up. You know, the flood hasn't washed you away from, from Renmark, right? So yeah, I really appreciate you sharing that story with us. Just on a final note, is there, is there, what would you like to say to the world, right? Is there something Renmark needs or the Riverland needs, or, you know, would you like to make an observation or share a thought about that with the rest of the country?
Ivan Smith (Guest) · 44:10
I think, um, um, people like my age, um, I think we, when, well, at all times, but especially when there's a crisis on, I think we need to be able to lead in a positive manner with a positive attitude. I think, I think we should lead by example, and I think we should demonstrate that most importantly to the younger generations. Um, I really like to encourage the young ones. Um, it's only recently we had the Australia Day, uh, uh, breakfast here at the, the council, local council puts on, and they have a Citizen of the Year and whatever, all well deserved. This year they also had a Young Citizen of the Year, a young lad of he's about 16, that's done a lot, that was awarded. And it gives me a great deal of pleasure to see young ones coming up volunteering and, and doing good things for the town. And it's, you know, out of all of this, us older blokes need to lead by example and encourage the young ones. That's— I'd really— that's what I would like to see, is us mentor the younger generation as much we can. They're our future. They're the ones who'll be deciding which old folks home they're going to put me in.
John Milham (Host) · 45:35
Yeah, yeah, yeah. Well, uh, you know, if— yeah, if we're that lucky, right?
Ivan Smith (Guest) · 45:40
If we look up—
John Milham (Host) · 45:43
no, fantastic. Uh, such a, um, uh, you know, such a, a wise thing to say. Um, and it's been wonderful to have your wisdom today, Ivan. Thank you so much for joining us, mate, and for sharing that, and we look forward to hearing nothing but good things as Redmark recovers.
Ivan Smith (Guest) · 46:04
Thanks, mate. Thank you.
John Milham (Host) · 46:07
Thank you for listening to this episode of Riverland Recovery Stories. If anything in this conversation has had a triggering effect, please seek support and reach out to someone who can help keep you safe. If you found this conversation interesting or helpful, please share it with your friends, family, and colleagues so we can help more people with their recovery from natural disasters. To find out more about Kintsugi Heroes and our other projects, head to kintsugiheroes.com.au. Thank you to our production team, Kintsugi Heroes volunteers, and most importantly, the Riverland community for sharing their lived experience.
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