Flood drama: How last week’s floods went down across the Mid West

Unusually heavy rains on the outskirts of Geraldton left a teenage boy clinging to a tree for hours fearing for his life after his car was swept away by floodwaters and the Greenough River peaked at 3.8m before breaking into the ocean on Sunday. People from all over the Mid West flocked to vantage points along the river, including Greenough’s old convict bridge, to see the water flow through the river bed. An even more popular spot was the river mouth, where people gathered to watch the muddy river water meet the ocean. Dogs, children and even some brave adults floated around in the red water to cool off after a day in the sun. A Bureau of Meteorology forecaster said widespread falls of more than 50mm had occurred in the Greenough River catchment last Wednesday and Thursday, with some isolated falls in excess of 100mm. The downpour is attributed to a tropical low which moved over the region last week and produced “fairly unstable conditions” and “unusually heavy rainfall”. By yesterday, the forecaster said the Greenough River at Karlanew Peak had fallen to under 2m and would gradually ease over the coming days. A Greenough resident said the river generally broke through to the ocean once a year during the cyclone season but it had not happened for a few years. The flooding event was almost a tragedy for P-plate driver Jack Norman during his routine trip home to Northampton from his farm job out east on Thursday night. The 17-year-old was driving on the Yuna Tenindewa Road when he hit floodwaters at 100km/h, causing water to quickly rush into his mother’s Mitsubishi 380. “As I felt the car going down, I pushed myself off the car. It started sucking me in, so I had to kick myself off,” he said. Jack managed to cling to a tree and called triple-0 after he luckily grabbed his mobile phone before the car sank. He stayed on the line until his phone went flat, with the operator comforting him with light conversation and keeping his mind off his shivering body. Jack waited for more than two hours with water lapping against his chest before emergency services pulled him to safety. It was not until almost 24 hours later the life-threatening reality really hit. “I just felt sad ... if something happened to me, I just think about how sad it would have been for Mum and Dad,” he said. Jack’s father Karl Norman did not find out about the incident until his son was in hospital and he was contacted by authorities. “I fell off the bed ... I said ‘mate, you’ll need to explain the whole thing to me because I don’t know what’s going on’,” he said. Jack has called for young people to show caution when driving. Geraldton Greenough SES manager Tom Wilson said drivers needed to remain vigilant. “It doesn’t matter how much water there is, all that’s needed is 15cm of water and a car will float,” he said.. “It doesn’t matter if it’s a little Toyota Corolla or a Toyota LandCruiser. Just don’t cross a road where the river has gone across.” Jack said his mother’s car was later found upside down further down the river.