Published in March 2008 Australian Longwall Magazine

On Friday January 18, 2008, the Bureau of Meteorology put out a severe weather warning for the northern Bowen Basin and surrounding areas, warning people that scattered thunderstorms could lead to flash floods.

Three days later predictions from a number of sources, including Queensland Resources Council chief executive Michael Roche, placed the damages bill from the floods in the tens of millions of dollars.

Roche said the cumulative impact of heavy rain on the Bowen Basin meant most of the region's 33 coal mines lost valuable production time, and many mines that had not been hit directly by the water reported restricted access due to road damage.

Several miners declared force majeure, including Xstrata's Newlands and Collinsville operations, Macarthur Coal’s Coppabella and Moorvale mines, and Ensham Resources’ Ensham mine, which was the hardest hit.

At Ensham opencut, record floods submerged a 3000-tonne Marion 8050 dragline and flooded a second pit.

"For Ensham Resources the road to full recovery is going to be longer in the aftermath of a catastrophic flood peak around Emerald that we understand resulted from a rare convergence of floodwaters from some 20,000 square kilometres of catchments to the north and south of the town," Roche said.

In Emerald, almost 2000 people were evacuated from their homes as the floodwaters rose. Town resident and photographer Judi Liosatos said the floods devastated the entire community.

"People of all ages, people of all walks of life ... everyone was affected in one way or another."

Liosatos said it was amazing to see the impact of the floods, which left once-valuable houses completely gutted.

"You've got the outside of the house, it might be a beautiful brick house with big bay windows and gardens that are now covered in mud, but when you look in the window you can see into every room.

"All the walls have been stripped except the actual wood frames that are between the walls.

"I went out to a couple of the properties ... with a couple of the owners as they initially had to swim out to their houses to be able to peer through the tops of the windows.

"To see these grown men just sink down to their knees and just look away, it was just heartbreaking, to be there at that moment when they realised that everything they had is gone."

One good thing to come out of the floods was an even stronger sense of community spirit, as everyone worked together to recover from the disaster.

Between the teams of townspeople who put themselves on clear-out duty, and external assistance from organisations such as the Red Cross, Liosatos said the progress made in the aftermath of the floods was inspiring.

"One day [the victims] had no house, no furniture, it's all been wiped out; by the next day they had a free unit with free furniture. No matter what race, age, gender, it was done for them.

"We had Red Cross (workers) going out in droves to the people on the properties to try and cook them up meals so they can keep cleaning."

As recovery efforts continued, people began to discover signs of damage not caused by water. Reports filtered out that looters had hit the flood-stricken homes, striking another blow to the community.

The looters went through evacuated homes smashing doors, stealing or destroying things that had survived the floods and throwing food into the water. Liosatos said it was a hit below the belt for victims.

"It's not just from out-of-towners, it's from local people. It'd be like your own family just kicking you in the guts over and over.

"Those two that were caught were juveniles and were actually flown out of town by the police for their own protection, and the parents of these people had police patrols around their houses to try and protect them from the town. The town was angry."

Emerald Mayor Peter Maguire said another setback for many of the town’s residents was the discovery that flood insurance was not included in their standard insurance packages, due in part to their location near the Nogoa river.

"A lot of the people ... actually the majority of them don't have flood insurance, they weren't covered by it."

In spite of so many residents losing their homes and possessions in the floods, Liosatos said the town has continued to show the kind of spirit and determination that has inspired people around the world.

"In 2008 Emerald fell into the world, and the world has learnt something from how the Emerald community actually dealt with such a disaster," she said.

"I think that is a credit to the people of their community."

Judi Liosatos wrote the book Mixed Emotions, which uses photography to document the experiences of Emerald throughout the floods. To purchase a copy of Mixed Emotions visit www.judigraphics.com. All proceeds from the book go to the relief effort in Emerald.