Memories ‘drowned’ out

By Lia Bichel
PIECES of the past gathered over 34 years in a Hampton Park home, were washed away with the floods.
Jo Nunan said she had not been able to sleep since arriving at her home on Mary Street to more than four feet of water about 6.30pm on Friday.
“I was driving home from work and I had to park a kilometre away and walk,” Mrs Nunan said.
“By the time I reached my street, the water was up to my chest, and I am five foot four inches tall.”
Mrs Nunan found her dog, a Staffordshire bull terrier, in deep water inside the home.
She rescued him and her two cats and fled to drier ground at a house belonging to a friend.
Mrs Nunan has been left with a severely damaged home, which she and her husband and son sleep in to prevent looters from intruding.
“We came back the next day and everything was rotting,” she said.
“We have pulled up the carpets and took everything out of the cupboards. We have 34 years of accumulation and nowhere to put anything.
“Everything that was two foot down (in the house) was gone. I have slate flooring and there is mud everywhere. Water is still seeping up from the floor and coming from the walls. We have lost bedding, clothes and furniture.”
Mrs Nunan has taken time off work to clean her house and said she was “stressed to the max.”
Mrs Nunan said she would not rest easy until she heard from her insurance company. “I know they are inundated with calls at the moment, but no one has been to tell us what we are covered for. We are in limbo and it’s making me feel sick,” she said. “It’s like living in chaos.”
Even after losing so much, Mrs Nunan is counting her blessings.
“We were not one of the worse ones hit,” she said. “We are one of the lucky ones.”