Raging floodwaters came without warning, tearing through Karen Proctor's Brisbane home in the February disaster.
"It was that quick … [within] 45 minutes it escalated from floorboard to second level, above the bench tops," Ms Proctor said.
Her Red Hill property in Brisbane's inner-northern suburbs was inundated and must now be rebuilt.
"I just remember on the Saturday, the Premier did an announcement around lunchtime and there was no reason for us to be alarmed, for us to be evacuating," she said.
Brisbane received 80 per cent of its annual rainfall in three days in February, with more than 20,000 homes and businesses impacted across 177 suburbs.
'Worst-case scenario for Brisbane'
Ten weeks on, former governor and chief justice Paul de Jersey has handed down an independent review into Brisbane City Council's handling of the flood disaster and the city's flood preparedness.
"I've reached the view that this was a worst-case scenario for Brisbane and its people," Mr de Jersey said.
Mr de Jersey found the response time to the emergency was slow and the mobile phone alert system took too long to reach Brisbane's 1.2 million residents.
His report said "there seemed to be some delay in the review and approval by QFES [Queensland Fire and Emergency Services] of the wording of the EA [emergency alert] and timing of the issue of the EA".
Houses flooded a day before warning issued
Sonia and Matthew Eggins-Allman's home at Chelmer in Brisbane's south was one of those homes.
"By the time we actually got the message from Brisbane City Council to say that we were in a flood risk, the second level already had water through it," Ms Eggins-Allman said.
"We started trying to evacuate at about 6:30pm on Saturday and that message came through Sunday evening at 7:54pm.
Mr de Jersey made 37 recommendations to prepare Brisbane for future flooding, including that QFES review its flood alert system to better distribute warnings.
In the report, he wrote "some of the communication channels were not accessible by all and loss of power and digital illiteracy meant some residents found it difficult to stay informed".
He recommended "consistent and widely publicised channels be used to relay emergency information [and] these channels should be accessible by everyone", urging residents to have a battery-powered radio in case of power failure.
The council's separate alert system reached just 14 per cent of households.
Flood victims welcome support
Mr de Jersey's other recommendations include a review of existing planning laws and for the voluntary buyback scheme to be reinstated with state and Commonwealth help.
Independent councillor for the badly-affected Tennyson Ward in Brisbane's south, Nicole Johnston, said planning laws needed to change.
"Too many buildings are being built and residents are being trapped in their buildings, they've got no power, they have to be evacuated from nursing homes," Ms Johnston said.
Ms Proctor said she welcomed any measures that would help her better prepare and recover.
"Our home is an older Queenslander, so we need to raise it — without question," Ms Proctor said.
Mr de Jersey also called for more backflow devices to be installed across Brisbane's stormwater system.
Mr Eggins-Allman said improving drainage in the area needed to be a council priority.
"There's no pumping station, so I actually believe we initially flooded because of the rainfall not being able to get out to the river," he said.
Council to adopt every recommendation
The Brisbane City Council said it would adopt and act on every recommendation.
Brisbane Lord Mayor Adrian Schrinner said the council would prioritise improving the early alert system for natural disasters.
"That is something I believe must be addressed before the next storm season comes our way," he said.
Mr de Jersey said although there was room for improvement, the council's response to the disaster was commendable.
"It was a true calamity but I'm sure that without the conscientious application of council in dealing with this calamity, we'd be in a much more serious situation today than we are in," he said.
"Council did a good job in relation to this calamity and council is to be commended itself and of course council staff who are people of such dedication."
Council report 'relatively narrow in scope'
Emergency Services Minister Mark Ryan criticised the review, saying it was "relatively narrow in scope".
"I'm advised this review was relatively narrow in scope, with no direct consultation with key state government agencies and senior disaster management and emergency services personnel," he said.
Mr Ryan said the national emergency alert system discussed in the report "is a national system implemented at a national level".
He said the state government's inspector-general of emergency management was also producing a report.
"Queensland's Inspector-General of Emergency Management is regarded as the gold standard across the nation, accordingly, his findings will carry substantial weight," Mr Ryan said.
