Mark Leigh · 44 min
When the 2022 Murray floods swallowed his home to the roofline, Mark Leigh discovered that survival is less about what you lose and more about who stands beside you.
Hear this story
Mark Leigh moved his family to the riverbanks for a lifestyle he loved: water skiing, fishing, a tight-knit community, and a small school for his kids. He never thought the Murray would take it all. When the 2022 floods came, the water rose slowly at first, then in a single day it breached the levee and swept over his roof. He woke at 2am to the sound of water rushing in like a waterfall. By 6am, he and his dog were leaving everything behind.
What followed was months of uncertainty. He paid a mortgage on a house he couldn't live in while also paying rent elsewhere, throwing money at both. He had no idea what to expect when the water finally receded: the doors had swelled shut, the mud was everywhere, and the stench was overwhelming. His entire neighbourhood looked like a war zone, with debris from kilometres upstream scattered across every property. He realized it would take six years to rebuild on weekends, so he gave up work entirely to strip the house down to its frame and start again.
But Mark wasn't alone. His community showed up. Neighbours gathered at the end of each day to share jokes, beer, and help with jobs that needed two hands. A young woman from the relief centre called him at work just to check in. A relief centre found him a pet-friendly hotel room within hours. What kept him going wasn't government support (their area was overlooked for recovery funding), but the people around him. Now, years later, Mark is back in his rebuilt home, still choosing to live on the river. He learned that disaster reveals who people really are, and some people are willing to help strangers simply because it needs doing.
“It was almost a disbelief. Sort of thing. You know, this doesn't happen. You see it on the news and stuff, but it doesn't happen to you.”
“I learned that life can be hard. But yeah, I also learned that there's some good people out there.”
“Everyone was just pitching in, helping each other.”
The hero, today
Mark moved his family to the river for a lifestyle he loved, not knowing the water could take almost everything from him, and he still wouldn't live anywhere else. When the flood came, Mark had no idea what to do, no precedent to follow, and no one who could give him a straight answer about how to prepare. Mark spent months away from his home, paying a mortgage on a house he couldn't live in while also paying rent elsewhere, throwing money at both until he could return. Mark gave up work to rebuild full-time because he realized doing it on weekends would take six years, and neighbours who helped made the overwhelming work bearable. Mark's community was forgotten by government recovery efforts because it wasn't a 'postcard place' like Mannum or Renmark, yet it was just as flooded and just as damaged. Mark learned that there are good people willing to help complete strangers, and that a single person checking in on how you're doing can matter more than any financial aid.
Yes. Mark Leigh 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.
Mark moved his family to the river for a lifestyle he loved, not knowing the water could take almost everything from him, and he still wouldn't live anywhere else.
When the flood came, Mark had no idea what to do, no precedent to follow, and no one who could give him a straight answer about how to prepare.
Mark spent months away from his home, paying a mortgage on a house he couldn't live in while also paying rent elsewhere, throwing money at both until he could return.
Mark gave up work to rebuild full-time because he realized doing it on weekends would take six years, and neighbours who helped made the overwhelming work bearable.
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 the final episode of River Murray Recovery Stories, John Millum is joined by Mark Lee. Mark shares his journey as a river resident along the Murray. He speaks about moving his family to the riverbanks and building a life around the close-knit community and natural beauty. When the floodwaters rose and his home was lost beneath the water, Mark faced months of uncertainty and hard work. Through the support of his friends, volunteers, and his community, he managed to rebuild and return home. Mark's determination and his honest reflections show how he found hope and connection even in the hardest of times.
Mark Leigh (Guest) · 01:53
Welcome to another Session, another conversation for Kuntugi Heroes, a conversation around the Riverland and Murrayland floods, the Riverland Recovery Project. And today it's really exciting to chat with a bloke who, well, literally was up to his neck in the water, mate. So you're like, you live on the river. And, um, you had a full flood experience in 2022, mate. So Mark Lee, welcome to Consiggy Heroes.
More stories
This site is part of Kintsugi Heroes. Visit the main site for the full podcast. If any of these stories hit close to home, support is out there, you don't have to sit with it alone.
Read how we handle these stories ↗
Kintsugi Heroes · Registered Australian not-for-profit · kintsugiheroes.com.au ↗
This conversation includes welcome to mark leigh's story, why the river becomes home, a casual joke that changed everything, building a life by the water, the warnings nobody believed and watching the water rise.
John Milham (Host) · 02:31
Yeah, thank you. I was a bit higher than my neck in water. Yeah, over the top of my head.
Mark Leigh (Guest) · 02:36
And of course it was over your roof, right?
John Milham (Host) · 02:39
So, uh, yeah, yeah, it got right up to the roofline. Bit wet.
Mark Leigh (Guest) · 02:45
So, uh, but, um, mate, it was a full-on experience and I'm glad to see you join us today and to give us a bit of background around how you, um, how you found the floods and, uh, and what that means for you. Just, uh, if I can start, mate, I like, uh, getting down to, to where you live and so on. It's an amazing part of the world. What is so attractive to you about the place you live, Payslipper?
John Milham (Host) · 03:20
Oh, it's just a really beautiful place to live. You've got the river, the, you know, the bushland and a great community of people that live here. I'd never want to live anywhere else. Yeah.
Mark Leigh (Guest) · 03:31
Is there a unique set of qualities that a person needs to be a river person, you know, to live down right on the side banks of the Murray?
John Milham (Host) · 03:40
I don't know if you'd say unique, but most people are very easygoing, friendly. Helpful. I guess it's the, uh, how everyone says country people are friendly and helpful.
Mark Leigh (Guest) · 03:54
So do you guys see yourselves as river people?
John Milham (Host) · 03:59
I guess so. Yeah. Most people do. You know, a lot of people are often out in the water, water skiing, fishing. It's just a part of the lifestyle, I suppose.
Mark Leigh (Guest) · 04:11
So you're as soon as launch a boat as kind of, you know, take a walk, right?
John Milham (Host) · 04:17
Oh yeah, a bit the same. It is nice to walk around as well. It's always nice to be on the water here.
Mark Leigh (Guest) · 04:25
So, um, how did you end up getting to the banks of the Murray, mate? What's your— where did that come from?
John Milham (Host) · 04:32
Well, my personal story was we had a ski boat and lived down in the northern suburbs, and it just became very hard to travel up for the weekend, and then you come back down and spend all the time loading the boat away and putting it away. And I jokingly said one day, maybe we should just move there. And next thing you know, there was 3 places to choose from, and we ended up buying and just moving up here. Yeah, driving back to Adelaide for work, which was a bit, bit easier in the long run.
Mark Leigh (Guest) · 05:07
Wow, that's a big move, right? Was it like, had you, um, you know, you were coming up here, coming up to, to rec— to, for recreation on the river, but had, you know, you or your family had a tradition of living by the water? Is that something that was in your blood, or—
John Milham (Host) · 05:25
wasn't a tradition of living, but sort of always growing up coming to the river, spending time at the river, long weekends. So just to move here was, was easy, easy choice.
Mark Leigh (Guest) · 05:36
Yeah, it's a, a pretty— like, it's a, it's a dedication to a lifestyle because it's not easy to live up here, mate. It's not that far, but it's also not just around the corner, is it?
John Milham (Host) · 05:47
So no, no, that's right. I used to drive an hour each way back and forward to Adelaide for work. So yeah, you do say it was dedication to the lifestyle. But I had people that would ask me, oh, why do you drive so far? And then they'd come and visit for a weekend and then they would say, oh, I can see now why you drive so far.
Mark Leigh (Guest) · 06:07
Was living by the river good for you and the family?
John Milham (Host) · 06:10
Oh, it was really good. Yeah. Um, it's a small school. So I had young children when we first moved up here and the small school was just, I found a lot better for the kids. I think there was 8 children in the whole school.
Mark Leigh (Guest) · 06:24
Oh wow.
John Milham (Host) · 06:24
But that, but that let, you know, the, there was more personal interaction with the, with the teacher rather than 30 kids in one classroom sort of thing. Yeah. So everyone, everyone enjoyed it. Everyone liked it.
Mark Leigh (Guest) · 06:37
And, um, you know, such a small and quite tight-knit community. There are many people who have been here for multiple generations. How, how was that? Sort of fitting into that?
John Milham (Host) · 06:49
So, uh, actually it was quite easy. It seems to be a bit of a community spirit along with the ski boat thing. So as soon as people would recognize your boat before they would recognize you, you, and then they were always willing to want to have a chat and talk about your boat, what you've been doing, and help out anything they can. So yeah, it was really great.
Mark Leigh (Guest) · 07:11
So had you, um, you know, living by the river, had you encountered, uh, rising waters before? Because, you know, The last really big one was what, '74, but there was a few between then and now.
John Milham (Host) · 07:25
Yeah, actually the first year we moved in, there was a high water event where a few people were saying, oh, we could get our feet wet. But it didn't get anywhere near that. There's been a couple of high waters since, which some people would call floods, but it's more just a high water, high water event, high flow. Yeah, nothing like what we experienced. Couple of years back.
Mark Leigh (Guest) · 07:48
So in '22, that was, you know, hark back to the big record, you know, sort of days, you know, it's, it's on the list of the top 5. What did you know about a flood before you actually went through that? Like, as you said, there'd been a couple of sort of rising, rising waters, but nothing had sort of caused anything like, uh, '22 did.
John Milham (Host) · 08:10
Well, I've been talking to people that have been here through the '74 event and the road that runs out of the front of our little community was actually built up to that level. So we were all reasonably confident that that had been put in there for that reason. They weren't expecting it to get higher and we would be, you know, we weren't going to get cut off. We're not going to, we're not actually going to go underwater, but a bit more water came down than we expected.
Mark Leigh (Guest) · 08:40
So I've seen photos of your place, mate, and, um, uh, the water was, uh, what, over the roof, right? And they're like, all the, you know, the places around you were like little, little sort of the peaks of the roofs were the only things you could see from the, from the group of houses around you. So how did it get to that stage, right? Because it's not— wasn't a fast thing, was it? It didn't just happen overnight.
John Milham (Host) · 09:08
Well, obviously we had the warnings that the water was coming down the river, but it was flowing that fast and they'd opened the locks. It was a very slow burn. I was coming home from work every night, walking down the river, sticking a stick in the ground so I could see how much, how it'd come up. There was still a bit of confidence that it wasn't going to breach the levee bank because it was flowing down. But, but then when it got to the stage where it came over the road, then it just happened quick. Literally within a, within a day, the whole, the whole area was, was underwater. No access.
Mark Leigh (Guest) · 09:50
So the levees were around about the 74 mark, I suppose, and the roads and stuff. So people were, you know, understanding, but as it got to the top, how did you feel?
John Milham (Host) · 10:00
Devastated, to tell you the truth. Hung on for as, for as long as I could. The actual night I'd done a run to Adelaide just to try and get a few small things out. I'd come back and it had started trickling in across the road into the creek system over the back. And I, I woke up that night at about 2 and it just sounded like a waterfall going into the creek. So jumped up. I'd actually left my car up at high ground so my car wouldn't get get trapped in the area. I got out with a torch and you could see a bit of water coming in. Unbelievably managed to get back to sleep till about 6 o'clock. And then by the time I got up, it was, uh, I said to the dog, yep, it's time for us to go. So we had to go, I had to go grab the car and get out. And then it was just actually really, didn't really know what to do. It was a bit surreal, sat out sort of. Ankle deep in water, watching it rush over, coming in with not really much idea of where to go from there. Yeah.
Mark Leigh (Guest) · 11:03
How, how much did you put up and, you know, the, how much did you expect to save?
John Milham (Host) · 11:09
Well, I had nowhere really to take big and no, no way of getting any big things out, but because we were going with the estimates, I should have gone underwater, but only half underwater. So I'd put everything. I could up high, I think, thinking that I had pulley systems in my shed with everything raised up. Yeah, thinking that it would be all right. Yeah. And actually that first day it probably would have been, but the water kept, kept rising and rising for another couple of weeks.
Mark Leigh (Guest) · 11:40
So as you sat there, as you said, you just took a breather, right? You're on the, on the high ground looking at the water coming up.
John Milham (Host) · 11:49
It was always, it was almost a disbelief.
Mark Leigh (Guest) · 11:51
Yeah.
John Milham (Host) · 11:53
You know, this doesn't happen. You see it on the news and stuff, but it doesn't happen to you. And then it was just a realization, oh well, we've got to figure something out. Where are we going to sleep tonight? Sort of thing. Yeah.
Mark Leigh (Guest) · 12:07
So the plan hadn't included that kind of, oh, where do I go?
John Milham (Host) · 12:11
What do I do?
Mark Leigh (Guest) · 12:13
You know, how do I get a feed and a bed type stuff?
John Milham (Host) · 12:18
Stuff? No, not really. I'd managed to store my boat luckily at, um, my local work. They had a big, big shed and they were quite happy for me. And I'd already organized and they were happy for the dog to come because obviously the dog's got nowhere to stay as well. So yeah, yeah, yeah. Life goes on. I still had to go to work and they were happy for me to take, take the dog to work. So they knew the circumstances were out of my control. And other than that, really, I had already been in plan because they had the, uh, the flood relief centers and already been in contact with them and registered with them. But that was what I did on the Sunday was then drove back an hour to Mannum where the flood relief center was and said, well, I'm done. I've got nowhere, got nowhere to go. I'd actually was expecting to be just in a swag for a few weeks. Yeah.
Mark Leigh (Guest) · 13:13
So, um, yes, yeah, so you're sitting on high ground, barely believing that the water has gone in your front door and it's starting to poke out your, you know, ceiling vents. Um, it must have been full on. What about your neighbors and friends?
John Milham (Host) · 13:28
What—
Mark Leigh (Guest) · 13:29
how were they coping?
John Milham (Host) · 13:31
We were all sort of in the same boat. Couldn't really believe it. Had done the best We could, got a neighbor friend whose house was built more recent to a higher level. So he was still feeling fairly confident, but, but couldn't get into his house. I was having to put himself up in the local cabins at one of the local caravan parks. So, and then it was all just a waiting game. It was a waiting game for the water to come up and then it was a waiting game for the water. Water to go back down.
Mark Leigh (Guest) · 14:03
Yeah. Wow. What did it look like?
John Milham (Host) · 14:10
Honestly, amazing. And quite good to see, you know, and, and I've seen videos of it, and until you've seen it in person, yeah, you just could, could not believe where all this water had, had come from. It was literally looked like an inland sea.
Mark Leigh (Guest) · 14:31
Tell us a little bit about the river. You know, when it's like that, what, what, what, um, was it scary?
John Milham (Host) · 14:39
Not so much scary. I definitely wouldn't have gone in it. It was filthy and very strong currents whipping around trees, all sorts of, all sorts of debris floating down, water tanks, rainwater tanks. One of the guys out One of the guys out front seen a couple of cows floating down.
Mark Leigh (Guest) · 14:57
Oh geez.
John Milham (Host) · 14:58
Yeah, anything and everything you can imagine was floating. Fridges.
Mark Leigh (Guest) · 15:03
Yeah, I was talking to someone and he said he was sitting in the river and he saw one of those council barbecues just float past, and about 2 minutes later the gas bottle went past as well.
John Milham (Host) · 15:15
Yeah, there was a couple of stories I heard of that where someone thought it was just a gas bottle. They called the gas bottle up and they barbecue was still attached to it. Yeah, yeah.
Mark Leigh (Guest) · 15:25
Um, so you, you know, like the, the scene itself is spectacular. Of course, it's, um, you know, it's, it means, you know, like there's behind that is like, were you already thinking about, you know, the trouble it was causing you?
John Milham (Host) · 15:45
Well, as soon as the reality struck that, yeah, we've got no choice, we're going underwater, then it was, but it was a bit of a case of, well, what do I do?
Mark Leigh (Guest) · 15:54
Yeah, yeah.
John Milham (Host) · 15:56
There is, yeah, there's no precedent that I've been through before and just had no, had no idea. You just have to take it each day as it comes sort of thing.
Mark Leigh (Guest) · 16:07
No one could tell you.
John Milham (Host) · 16:10
No, no. Well, even up to the trying to deal with what, how to prepare your house. Some people were saying you need to sandbag and do the best you can. Other people were saying don't sandbag because you're better to let the water flow through. It'll do less damage than if it's built up and can't go anywhere. So I was making phone calls and no one could really give me a direct answer.
Mark Leigh (Guest) · 16:37
What was helpful?
John Milham (Host) · 16:41
Uh, the recovery and relief centers that they set up were extremely helpful. So that day when I drove down there, I was probably there for half an hour. So I'd already registered, so it was just a chat, but okay, yeah, the water's come in. And then, uh, oh, okay, what do I do? Bugger it, I'll drive back down and have another look. How it's going. And 10 minutes later, I got a phone call that they'd found me a hotel room that would put me up. And I asked her, well, I've got, I've got the dog as well. Oh no, it's fine. It's pet friendly. So yeah, I was able then to shoot back down. That was all the way up Murray Bridge. So it was a big, long driving day, but yeah, they were, they were excellent. Just straight in. Oh yeah, we've had a phone call that you're, you're on the way. Here you go. Here's the room. No problems at all.
Mark Leigh (Guest) · 17:32
Yeah, because, um, the water had taken a long time to come up because that's the Murray, right? You know, like, it's not the rain that fills it, it's Queensland's rain that fills it.
John Milham (Host) · 17:44
Yeah, yeah. So we had plenty of notice that the water was going to get high, but the predictions were well off. Yeah, they did that. More water came than than anyone was telling them what was going to come down.
Mark Leigh (Guest) · 18:00
Yeah, of course that means it takes a long time to go as well.
John Milham (Host) · 18:07
Well, it took a fair while to go, and what was worse for us, because our levee was so high, once the river started going down, the water was trapped behind the levee. So then we, we had to wait for it to to, to leave the area before we could even get in. Yeah.
Mark Leigh (Guest) · 18:27
Yeah. Wow. So you dammed the water as well. So how long were you— yeah, how long were you— were you going down and checking your place out and it was still underwater?
John Milham (Host) · 18:36
Uh, well, so I was staying in Murray Bridge, so I wasn't coming that often, but my friend was, was still staying just up the road and he was giving me updates where we're going, send the photos. Came down one weekend because we thought we might have been able to get, get through. But once we got here, and now it's still too much water, we can't. Yeah, by that, by that stage, the river had dropped to an almost normal level, but yeah, we still couldn't get into the area where the, where the houses are.
Mark Leigh (Guest) · 19:05
So, uh, it's, it's a long, you know, it's 400 kilometers of sort of riverfront, you know, that was sort of impacted from Renmark through to You know, Murray Bridge, what, uh, what, um, what was the vibe like of the place? You know, like the every, you know, there are people who have got through okay, but there are people who are like yourselves who are, you know, completely underwater. Was everyone sort of aware of what was going on everywhere?
John Milham (Host) · 19:34
Honestly, people were more upbeat than you, even people like myself that were affected. The community, we were sort of even meeting here on weekends and having a look and then going up to the pub for a lunch and we'd still have the same joke. We'd sort of take a bit of a joke at our own expense about the floods and things. It was still, still reasonably upbeat and a good community. The hardest part was during the weeks when you're at work and you're trying to concentrate on your job, do your thing, but you still got that in your mind. What am I going to do? Yeah.
Mark Leigh (Guest) · 20:14
So tell me about what it's like to realize you've lost everything and to start to think about planning going forward. What, what goes through your head, man?
John Milham (Host) · 20:26
It was the worry of, is the house going to be totally destroyed? Do I have to start again from, from scratch? Because you had no idea. Until it actually came in and seeing what was left behind, how it was going to go. It was just the uncertainty. I had no idea. I was looking at, um, by that stage it was, oh, well, maybe I have to buy another house. And then, and then looking at the prices of houses, it was, I'm 50 years old. I can't go out and start again at a half a million dollar thousand a house or anything. And I, I just couldn't believe it. I'd seen a couple of small little, you know, two-bedroom sort of villa places. Oh, well, that would do me. That's, that's all I need. But then the prices were still half a million dollars. It's unbelievable. Yeah. So that, so then it was, oh well, what am I going to do? Where, where am I going to live? Yeah. Um, and you're staying at, still the whole time you're staying at the hotel and Well, no, it's, uh, I was at the hotel for about a month, which was, it was quite nice, but it was still, you're just in a hotel room.
Mark Leigh (Guest) · 21:41
Yeah.
John Milham (Host) · 21:41
You go, you're going to work, then you go to a hotel room and what do you do for tea? You go to the local takeout or the local pub. So that was tough. But after that, I managed to find a rental place, which was in Adelaide, which was still tough because I was working at Madam's, so it was an hour. Drive up through the, up through the hills. That's when I'd started looking, oh, do I need to, do I need to find something? Because it was a good 3 months that couldn't get in here at all. Couldn't, couldn't access the property. And then obviously even when could access the property, it wasn't livable. But even that, even that was tough because you're still paying. I still had a mortgage to pay for the house that was underwater. And then you still, you've got to pay your rent to stay where you go. And so you're just throwing, throwing money in the bin, basically.
Mark Leigh (Guest) · 22:35
During this time, mate, a lot of people, it must, it must have been a struggle. Did you have, feel like you had support or options to, to give you a hand, you know, either sort of, you know, emotionally or physically?
John Milham (Host) · 22:49
Well, still had the friends and a lot, we were still talking and still You know, joking around. And the support was there even when we did start the rebuild. But at some stages you just, you did think, Jesus, I'm on my own here. Yeah, yeah, yeah. You know, what are you going to deal with?
Mark Leigh (Guest) · 23:08
And, you know, when the water's down, mate, and you looked at, uh, what, geez, it would have been a bit of a mess.
John Milham (Host) · 23:15
Uh, honestly, that was something I'll never forget. Walking in, walking, uh, we actually drove up, another friend of mine and his, his kids came up to look at their place and they didn't even look at their place. The first thing I did was open my shed and they just heard me scream a few profanities and had to come, had to come running over, have a look at what I found here. And then even, okay, let's go and walk inside and have a look inside. Uh, so the doors had, swelled up, couldn't even open the doors, had to kick, had to shoulder charge the door in, which then fell off the hinges when it— and an unbelievable sight, just like a, the house had been turned into a washing machine, everything. Mud, mud absolutely everywhere. And the stench of the mud was, was terrible.
Mark Leigh (Guest) · 24:04
Yeah. Looking at that, like, did it, like, that must, I, I have, you know, um, you know, I have a, you know, a childhood memory of going through a flood, right? Just, it just seems like It's everywhere. It's impossible to shift. How did you sort of, you know, gird the loins to have a go and get this clean?
John Milham (Host) · 24:23
That was very— it was a case of where do you start? You know, you looked at it and it was so overwhelming. Where do you start? And I actually came up when it was time I could start, brought a pressure cleaner with a plan. Well, I've got to clean the shed out first. And then I set up a camp in the, in the shed. Right. Lucky enough, yeah, locals were still here. Okay, I'll come and give you a hand. It was just a case of start at the door. Yeah. Drag, drag everything out, put it in a pile, and then start trying to clean, clean the mud out of the place.
Mark Leigh (Guest) · 25:01
The place, um, your neighborhood, if you will, you know, where, you know, you, you got, you know, houses around you, they were in the same boat, you know?
John Milham (Host) · 25:12
Yeah. Oh yeah, everyone was in exactly the same situation.
Mark Leigh (Guest) · 25:15
Place was a, uh, would have been pretty, you know, pretty desolate and destructed, you know.
John Milham (Host) · 25:24
I, I used the analogy that it was, uh, it looked like a war zone. Looked like we were in Ukraine. Everything was just brown, dead. Wow. Rubbish, rubbish strewn around everywhere. Fridges, rainwater tanks, you name it. It was just dumped everywhere. Could have come from your neighbors, it could have come from 400 kays up the river. You know, you didn't know where all these things was coming into the area. Yeah.
Mark Leigh (Guest) · 25:50
Did you want to start again? Was that like, did you know, did you look around and say it had lost the place, had lost its charm?
John Milham (Host) · 25:58
Oh, there was never any thought of that. No, it was always, we'll get back. We'll, we'll get there. And slowly we are. So, yeah.
Mark Leigh (Guest) · 26:10
So a quick, a quick review of practical. What's involved in getting a place back to livable after it goes through something like that?
John Milham (Host) · 26:19
So the first step I had to go through was, um, and quite luckily supplied by the Green Industries, the engineers. Came to assess the property. I wasn't going to touch anything until— there was no point in me starting to clean up for engineers to come up and go, no, the bulldozers have to come in. So then, luckily enough, you get the okay, yes, the structurally it's sound. But then it was a case of literally stripping everything. I, um, I was trying to do it on weekends and then I just realized this is going to take me 6 years to do this. So I actually had to give up work for a while and just make it my full-time, full-time job, basically. Had the window, had the windows open, pulling down bits of gyprock, throwing them out the window into a pile on the driveway, which they could then move later into a bin. Get rid of it and literally strip the, strip the house down to, to nothing but a frame.
Mark Leigh (Guest) · 27:26
And then you put it all together again.
John Milham (Host) · 27:28
And then, yep, slowly put it all together again. In my lucky case, I had a couple of lifelong friends in trades who came up and, and helped me out. So like electrical, things like that, you have to get a tradie to do it. You're not You're not doing that yourself. Yeah. So, but, but it was a long process. Still sort of finishing, nearly there, but just a lot of us, a lot of us are now stuck at the point where, okay, it's livable. You've just got those little tiny finishing off things to do.
Mark Leigh (Guest) · 28:02
Yeah. So it's lock up, but not completely.
John Milham (Host) · 28:07
Yeah. Um, yeah. So livable. I'm back in living, but you've still got a little bit of your trim work to to do, and we actually discussed it yesterday with another friend. It's just a case of, ah, well, it's good enough for now. We'll sort that, sort that out later.
Mark Leigh (Guest) · 28:23
Yeah. Um, did it, did it come back good as new?
John Milham (Host) · 28:28
Uh, yeah. Yeah.
Mark Leigh (Guest) · 28:31
Good.
John Milham (Host) · 28:31
Yeah, for sure. Just a long process that you wish you didn't have to go through sort of thing. Yeah.
Mark Leigh (Guest) · 28:38
Of course, everyone around you is going through it. Did that make it harder or easier?
John Milham (Host) · 28:43
Uh, that probably made it easier because there's also people here. So we'd get together at the end of the day, discuss how the day had gone, have a joke, have a beer, have a barbecue. And then there was someone there. So there's physically some jobs that you need a secondhand to do. So it was always, you had someone to ask or they'd come and ask, you know, what are you doing tomorrow? Can you? 'Give us a hand with that.' And everyone was just, you know, everyone was pitching in, helping each other.
Mark Leigh (Guest) · 29:14
The play— the, the, um, you know, the environment was— that was changed as well. And, you know, like, that wasn't— so did you, you know, think about how you were, you know, changing your relationship with the yard and the river and around you?
John Milham (Host) · 29:30
Was that like Honestly, I think rather than like, there was a lot of dead, dead trees and things around and lawns for the river environment, it probably improved. And then it's just, it's just the case. So in my personal part as well, I'm sort of like the groundskeeper of the area. So that was part of my responsibility as well to try and get to, and I sort of took that a bit personal as well for everyone else, or at least try and get the surrounding areas looking, looking pleasant. So it wasn't just a depressing sight to, to see. Yeah.
Mark Leigh (Guest) · 30:11
So the, the flushing nature of a flood, you know, do you reckon the, like, the river was grateful for the flood?
John Milham (Host) · 30:19
Oh, absolutely. And the wildlife just boomed.
Mark Leigh (Guest) · 30:23
Yeah.
John Milham (Host) · 30:23
So a lot of people I'd spoke to I could not believe how, like, even while I was underwater and not in my house, how I could see the, how I could see the positives that I had, what it done for the actual river. I mean, it's a natural event, isn't it? And it, yeah. Yeah. And just everything, it was quite amazing actually how quickly things started to green up once the water had gone. Yeah. So for the environment and the actual the wildlife in the area, that was, it was boom times.
Mark Leigh (Guest) · 30:56
As you look back now, and it's been a little while, and you're starting to get some sort of normal back into your world, do you know what you've lost?
John Milham (Host) · 31:09
Uh, I lost a lot. And you still sort of realize, okay, oh, okay, I need this. Where? Oh. Can't find it. Oh, that must do. Because it was a case of some people did try to salvage some things that had been in the water. But in my case, because it was so overwhelming, it was no point going through every tiny little thing. It was almost shoveling rubbish out the door into the— and so then you just go, well, I can't find that. That must have gone out in the, in the dump pile.
Mark Leigh (Guest) · 31:43
And is it like Do you feel like there's been any good or any gain in the whole process?
John Milham (Host) · 31:52
I wouldn't really say any gain. There was good on people getting together and helping. There also was a little bit, to be honest, a bit of bad in that. Because, uh, one of the things that they always say is a disaster brings out the the best in people. Yeah. But in some, some cases it actually did, did the opposite. Yeah.
Mark Leigh (Guest) · 32:16
Yeah.
John Milham (Host) · 32:18
And brought out the worst in people. Yeah.
Mark Leigh (Guest) · 32:19
It's a very stressful situation. Do you feel like people are still processing that stress and, you know, you know, people have been changed and, you know, I definitely think people are still, still processing the stress.
John Milham (Host) · 32:35
I'd say that I am. As, as well, you know. It was a life, life-changing sort of event. A lot of people are sort of like now finishing their restorations and they're back up and going, so they're, so they're happier. So even to that point, they're probably a bit happier because everything's had to be refreshed and new, so it's a nice new looking environment in their, in their houses and shacks, but you sort of have to try and shrug off the, the 2 years that it took to get there. And in a lot of, a lot of cases it's still going. Yeah.
Mark Leigh (Guest) · 33:16
Yeah. How, um, how do you feel about your community now? Like, was it, was it a, um, you know, did they grow or did they shrink in your estimation?
John Milham (Host) · 33:30
Probably a bit of both. So a few people didn't bother coming back, just walked away. But then, and these are the people I felt very sorry for, there was people who had just bought into the area 6 months before. So then they're sort of new members to the community who are then, because they've been chipping in and we've all been helping each other, so you've made new friends and Yeah, new members of the community.
Mark Leigh (Guest) · 34:01
Is your family interested in, you know, staying, keeping their long association with the river going?
John Milham (Host) · 34:10
Uh, so my nephew does now. He moved up to Renmark just after the flood actually. He got himself a job in Renmark. And so most people are. It's, it's the river. It happens. It's back, back, back to normal now. You know, if you walked out to the riverfront now, you'd never know.
Mark Leigh (Guest) · 34:29
Yeah.
John Milham (Host) · 34:29
Yeah. Yeah.
Mark Leigh (Guest) · 34:31
How does it get into you? You guys seem like very connected and very passionate about the river, right? How does that happen?
John Milham (Host) · 34:38
Right. Well, so in this little area, there's a mixture of 50% people who've been here for a very long time. And then some more short-termers, like 5, 5 years, but everyone sort of has the same, I suppose, recreation of boating and fishing on the river. So it's a very, it's a small community that we've got in here, but even on, even though they say the, the riverfront where everyone goes and skis, you get the weekenders that come, come up and just set up, but there's always the group. Okay, this guy's set up here, we'll set up there too. And you just make a day of it. Sort of thing. So you have a laugh out at the river.
Mark Leigh (Guest) · 35:21
Gets under your skin, doesn't it?
John Milham (Host) · 35:22
Yeah, it just becomes a part, a way of life.
Mark Leigh (Guest) · 35:25
Yeah, yeah, beautiful. What did you learn?
John Milham (Host) · 35:31
What did I learn? I learned that life can be hard. Yeah, yeah, but yeah, I also learned that there's, um, There's some good people out there. There's some volunteers that just never met you before, have no idea, but we're willing to get out, roll their sleeves up and, and get into it and help out. Yeah.
Mark Leigh (Guest) · 35:58
I know you wouldn't want to go through this every day, but it's almost inevitable that the river will flood again.
John Milham (Host) · 36:07
There's Couple of train of thoughts on that. Some people have been saying, oh, that wasn't the big one. Other people are saying, well, we've had high water events coming up to that, that they were technically floods. And that was the big one. I really don't know. I think the government in the managing of the waters learnt a lesson. Learnt that, you know, they probably could have been avoided if they opened everything up. A bit, a bit earlier and let more, more water out earlier. But even at the last minute, um, with all the locks open, we're still reasonably confident that we weren't going to get wet because you could see just how quick the water was flowing. Well, it's, it's going to get out. I think lessons, because I'd say that, you know, no one wants to go and have to go through the expense again of what that costs. Cost to just the rebuilds.
Mark Leigh (Guest) · 37:02
Yeah, yeah, rebuilds, levies, there's a lot involved.
John Milham (Host) · 37:07
Yeah, that's right. And the irony is now we're in flood— uh, sorry, not in flood, we're in drought now. Drought.
Mark Leigh (Guest) · 37:13
Yeah, yeah. So it's a tough place to live, you know, like it's boiling hot in summer and, you know, it's either too wet or too dry.
John Milham (Host) · 37:22
Yeah, one of the guys now, he's praying for rain because his rainwater tanks are running out. Cheese, you know, he's gonna, he's gonna have no water.
Mark Leigh (Guest) · 37:29
So that's a— you guys must be wacko, right?
John Milham (Host) · 37:35
Some people might say that.
Mark Leigh (Guest) · 37:39
Um, amazing. What, what do you want the people who are looking at the river or come and visit or, um, you know, maybe even looking for property, what do you want them to know?
John Milham (Host) · 37:52
Oh, I wouldn't let it put you off, basically, because it's a, it's a beautiful place. Sure, there was a, there was a tough time there, but you just have to take it as it is. That's an act of nature. That's how the world has always worked.
Mark Leigh (Guest) · 38:11
So that's a great attitude, mate. Um, you've done it tough. You know, like, what do you hope for you? What, what, you know, the next couple of years, you know, as you sort of put the trim together and, you know, get some, get some time on the boat. What are you looking forward to?
John Milham (Host) · 38:30
Just get back to a bit of normality, you know, which is slowly coming around.
Mark Leigh (Guest) · 38:38
And, um, mate, um, what do you need?
John Milham (Host) · 38:43
Oh, that's a, that's a tough question. We could have done with more help at the time. I found it, I found it a little bit disappointing and I actually spoke to, it's Shelley who you know from the Mid Murray Council and she agreed that because we were not one of the pinup places on the river, a Renmark or a Mannum, we absolutely got nothing. And I, we still wouldn't have got any help, but Shelley went out of her way and contacted me. I had no idea that the The help, the help was there. Uh, it always got me, and I've said it a few times, that whenever there's a disaster in Victoria or Queensland, there's dollars thrown at people, there's every man and his dog out helping. And we got, we got a little bit of that, oh, we'll do this, we'll do that for you. And In reality, nothing. Even our riverfront, which was a very nice pristine lawn area where you could sit at the river with your family, that, that was just totaled. And when we had the first, first meeting with the local council, that was one of the questions most people ask. Are you going to fix up this riverfront? Sorry, there's no funds allocated in the budget to do that. Yet a place like Wakaree, the day the water went down, they had machinery in there relaying lawns and getting the place looking spick and span.
Mark Leigh (Guest) · 40:17
So do you reckon it was because you were one bend too far around the river or what?
John Milham (Host) · 40:22
I think it is. We're just in the, because we're in Paisley, so we're the opposite side of the river of Blanchetown. We're not in the same council as Blanchetown. Right. And we're, and we're right at the bottom end of the council area.
Mark Leigh (Guest) · 40:35
Yeah.
John Milham (Host) · 40:35
And we're just not as important to, we're not a postcard area. So, cause that, that was as well another thing and had it, I don't, I'm not political and I don't want to get political, but, uh, you had the premier making sure he's at Manam with all the machinery and being behind him. I look. This is what we're doing. This is what we're doing. And that's great because Manly was a great town and I was working there at the time. But places like this were forgotten. This is just, and this, this was a very busy place. You get to a weekend, there's no spot. If you're not, if you're not there early enough, there's no room for you anymore on the riverfront. And it just died out because no one wanted to go to a mud, a mud pit.
Mark Leigh (Guest) · 41:23
And, uh, yeah, no, it's a beautiful spot, mate. And, uh. You know, it's just one of, it's a classic sort of, you know, everyman spot you can put your boat in. It's, yeah, it's amazing.
John Milham (Host) · 41:33
That's it. Yeah, that's a great way to describe it. Yeah.
Mark Leigh (Guest) · 41:37
And you can have a really, you know, connect with the, the, you know, the river and, uh, the people around it. So look, uh, hopefully we can make the right enough noise next time if anything else happens, right? Then we can make sure you guys get what you need.
John Milham (Host) · 41:51
Well, fingers crossed that nothing happens for a very long time, so.
Mark Leigh (Guest) · 41:57
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Um, yeah, absolutely. Uh, mate, are there any messages you want to send out to anyone?
John Milham (Host) · 42:04
Uh, I wish I could remember the name because there was a young lady that was working for the relief centers in Mannum who was absolutely brilliant, even to the point that I'd get a phone call at work, oh, you looked a bit down yesterday, is everything all right? It was— it's people like that that really helped. Yeah, they didn't maybe help in— yeah, a financial—
Mark Leigh (Guest) · 42:27
finest Aussie spirit when the toughest tough stuff happens, mate.
John Milham (Host) · 42:32
So, yep, yep, that's right.
Mark Leigh (Guest) · 42:34
Well, I reckon there's a bit of fine Aussie spirit in you, mate. Like, you're, um, for a bloke who's been through a real trial, I reckon you're doing really well, mate. So congratulations on that. Congratulations on putting your place together on a very, very nice little part of the world there. I hope it all comes together in the future for you, brother.
John Milham (Host) · 42:54
Ah, thank you very much.
Mark Leigh (Guest) · 42:57
And well done, mate. Thank you so much for sharing your story. So much insight in that, and I love the idea that your words of wisdom will be available for someone down the track who might have their own challenges as the water comes and goes.
John Milham (Host) · 43:11
Yep, I'm sure it'll come again, but hopefully never as bad.
Mark Leigh (Guest) · 43:15
No, no, maybe because of you, the effort you guys put in. So well done, Mark. It's so good to chat with you, brother, and I look forward to seeing you down the track. And all the best with finishing off, mate, and getting bedded in.
John Milham (Host) · 43:29
No worries, thank you. Thank you for listening to this episode of Riverland Recovery Stories. If anything in this conversation has had 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.
You don't have to be in crisis to call.
Subscribe
Spotify
Apple