Just hours after Simon Done received a call warning floodwater from the Mary River would engulf the Wide Bay Rowing Club, the shed was underwater.
Representing the club, the Maryborough resident will be one of many people who will seek financial support after the state government announced recovery assistance grants following this month's floods.
As the safety officer for the rowing club, Mr Done acted quickly after receiving the warning call at 5am on a Sunday to say the shed would go under.
"Within three hours it was lapping at the gates of the club, by five hours it was in the club, and after that it went up, and up, and up," Mr Done said.
Mr Done said the club almost lost everything.
Quick thinking volunteers retrieved the boats from the building.
"There's 38, 39 boats in there. They can be $20,000 a boat," he said.
"Basically, we would be up in the hundreds of thousands of dollars of damage at the moment."
By the time the floodwater lowered, it had taken with it the rowing club's boat ramp and pontoon.
"The ramp is in the Mary River somewhere. We have no idea where," Mr Done said.
"Hopefully with some grants and some swift decisions being made, we'll have our boats back on the water as soon as we can.
"Every grant we can apply for we will certainly be looking for."
Road to recovery
Recovery coordinator Paul de Jersey visited the flood-ravaged areas of Gympie, Maryborough and Dallarnil this week and admitted it could take up to five years for those communities to recover.
"There is a lot of work to be done, it is not a short exercise," Mr de Jersey said.
"The greatest challenge will be to recognise where resources are needed but I'm very ably counselled in that regard."
The former governor of Queensland was particularly concerned about the welfare of people affected by the flooding.
"It's also very important to recognise the emotional toll that these events take on people so that will be monitored," Mr de Jersey said.
The state government announced that flood-affected residents in the Wide Bay Burnett would be eligible to apply for grants of $50,000 or immediate grants of $10,000 through the Queensland Rural and Industry Development Authority (QRIDA).
Here to help
The Department of Communities has set up a community recovery hub in Maryborough to connect flooded residents to support services.
Senior recovery officer Chantal Devereaux-Larkin said a range of hardship grants were available, as well as emotional counselling.
"The amount of water that fell in such a short period of time caught community members off guard," she said.
"Then you add onto this the fact we've just come out of fires in the last couple of years, they've experience drought, we've also had COVID-19.
"So, we know there is some cumulative impacts from a psychological perspective."
