EMERGENCY services personnel have reflected on their experiences during the 2011 Queensland floods, which devastated businesses, homes and communities across 78 per cent of the state.
The floods started in November 2010 and left 33 people dead.
On January 10, 2011, a raging torrent of floodwater swept through the Lockyer Valley and the next day the Brisbane River broke its banks, putting about 20,000 city homes in the firing line.
With thousands of people forced to evacuate their homes, emergency services was stretched to the limit and Queenslanders rallied to help with the cleanup on January 14 when floodwaters receded.
In the Scenic Rim, flooding affected Boonah, Kalbar and Harrisville with some residents choosing to evacuate and there were landslides reported at Tamborine Mountain and Beechmont.
Fortunately Redland City has not experienced major flood crisis and there were no major instances of loss during the 2011 floods, primarily due to the Redlands not having large waterway systems apart from Tingalpa Creek.
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At the time of the floods, Inspector Brad Moore was was a station officer in Brisbane and also a swiftwater rescue technician. Mr Moore was deployed to many areas across Queensland including St George, Condamine, Dirranbandi, Innisfail and also assisted with the floods in Brisbane.
As the first firefighter deployed to Ingham, Mr Moore said he spent Christmas away from home.
"It was a bit weird, the locals seemed so casual, like they were used to floods," he said.
"I spent the initial part moving furniture and pitching in with the community. We didn't do a lot of rescues, mostly welfare checks with police and QAS."
After a five-day stint at Dirranbandi, helping people trapped by water, Mr Moore was flown out by helicopter.
"It was totally surreal, it just looked like an inland ocean, all you could see was water flying out," he said.
"We arrived back in Brisbane after midnight and slept in the car," he said.
"One of the first things we did was drive to Suncorp Stadium, which was hard to access because it was full of water, up to the height of the fence where the first seats start.
"In south Brisbane we had to help rescue people stranded in their vehicles. We had no motorised rescue craft, we were getting people out on an inflatable work platform and used paddles or ropes to move it.
"That was something good that came out of it, we now have 26 motorised rescue craft."
Mr Moore said south Brisbane resembled a big pond.
"It was still water, not moving at all so it didn't seem as if anyone could drown in it," he said.
"But a family turned up after someone had been reported missing and we realised there was potentially someone in there.
"It turned out it was a gentleman who was just going to check on his farm, the access road dipped down and he couldn't swim.
'We had no army or police divers available, everybody was flat out and here we had a family sitting on the bank in case we found something."
The rescuers went into the water with flotation devices and floated in a line, using oars to find the drowned man underwater.
"Having to tell a family that news is hard on a firefighter, it was sad for us all, he was only checking his farm," Mr Moore said.
Thousands of people took legal action against the state government and its water suppliers after the floods.
In May 2020 the Queensland government and two of its water suppliers were ordered to pay $253,000 to one of the victims of the 2011 Brisbane floods.
Vince Rodriguez sought damages after his sporting goods store was devastated by the massive rain event.
In a landmark decision in 2019, the NSW Supreme Court found the entities were liable for the failures of engineers operating two dams during the floods.
