Dan
The ringingof my house phone dragged me out of my sleep. It took me a moment to figure out what the noise was. I couldn’t remember the last time the landline had received a call. Admittedly I’d only been here for seven months or so, but still…. I eyed it warily, as if a dodgy salesperson was going to jump through the receiver if I answered it.
On its sixth ring, I reached out and picked up.
“This is an automated announcement by the Queensland government—”
Immediately I went on high alert, already knowing what the announcement would say. The flood warning had been activated.
I ended the call and rushed to my room to dress. My eyes snagged on the empty bed, and my heart flipped over, pissed I hadn’t convinced Ross to stay over.
A quick glance at the time told me it was a little after 5:00 a.m. It was Monday morning, so the first day back at school for the kids.
That wouldn’t be happening today.
It had been a long time since the Burra Bli River had flooded to the point where the town was on high alert. Sure, creeks regularly flooded, and flash flooding was a given, cutting off roads and access, but to the point of the river triggering the alarm was probably when I’d been sixteen.
A variety of creeks weaved along the south side of town, fed by the river. It would mean residents and businesses were cut off. Heading south wouldn’t be possible for them, as that’s where the surge of water was coming from, meaning I needed to get my arse to the station and get to work.
Adrenalin buzzed in my veins, and my hands shook as I tied my laces on my boots, then grabbed my phone.
Where my house was should be well out of any flood zone, but I took a moment to shake out my hands and take a deep breath. I quickly made my way to the circuit board, turning off the main power. I then put my laptop on the kitchen counter, rather than leaving it on the floor next to the sofa. Looking around, I couldn’t see anything else at ground level I needed to worry about.
Once outside, my phone rang. Craig’s name flashed on the screen.
As soon as I picked up, he asked, “You on the way to the station?”
“Yeah, just leaving now.” I started my truck.
“Ross with you?”
My stomach dipped unhappily. “No.”
“Fuck.”
Once the riverbanks burst, he’d be isolated, cut off entirely from town, but his house was on a decent hill and a good distance from the river, so as long as he stayed put, he’d be safe.
The town had been expecting this over the past few days. Still, yesterday there’d been a heavy downpour about five hundred kilometres north, as in a few hundred millimetres in a few hours, hitting the river that fed directly into the Burra.
Despite knowing this, Ross had insisted on staying home, determined to stay put because of Bessie, his damn goat, who was due to have her kid anytime soon. Sure, we hoped the rain would ease and the river would slow, but there’d been a good chance this was going to happen.
“He’ll be fine,” I said, for myself as well as his brother. “He’s got the generator and plenty of supplies.”
“You’re right. Would have been good to have him in town, is all.”
I agreed wholeheartedly as I pulled away, heading to the station, flipping my phone to Bluetooth. “I’m thinking of emigrating,” I said, trying to distract us both.
Craig snorted. “That right?”
“Yeah. Where’s someplace that doesn’t try to burn itself to ashes one moment and in the next, cover its tracks and drown us all?”
“It’s all about replenishing, right?”
My own humourless snort followed. Flood was scary as hell, so different from the destruction of a fire but potentially devastating in its own right.
The positive was we’d had a warning so people could get to safety and protect themselves.
“I’m just pulling up now. You nearly here?” Craig asked.
