The water has receded, the debris cleared, the mud washed away.
But one year on from the flood disaster that struck Brisbane in February 2022, the nightmare continues for victims.
Valerie Perriman is still living in her Beenleigh home that was 2.7 metres underwater a year ago, in what she describes as "sub-human conditions".
Her upstairs deck is tearing itself away from the rest of the house, while the rest of the structure is slowly rolling out from underneath due to a severe landslide.
Mould is a recurring issue, destroying the new furniture she was able to buy with local community grants, and deteriorating her physical health.
She runs an air purifier but can’t afford new filters, and even if she could afford new furniture, she knows the purchases would immediately be riddled with mould.
"Living here really sucks. I don’t want to be here anymore," she said, trembling and through tears.
"I have videos of the walls where the wind blows and you can hear the nails pulling out of the studs; it's really scary."
Ms Perriman applied for a government buyback of her home and received an offer from the Queensland Reconstruction Authority (QRA) in October.
The single mother was left shocked when the offer was significantly lower than she had anticipated, based on previous valuations.
She said she felt backed into a corner, forced to take an offer she felt was unfair, or try to retrofit a broken home she knows will flood again.
"I don't even know where to look to live. I don't know what my options are. I just keep on trying to ask for help," she said.
"Please come and live in my house for a week. Do what I do every day for a week and then tell me you want to stay. Tell me it's worth what you're giving me.
"This is supposed to help Queenslanders in desperate situations. I don't feel like I'm being helped and I feel really desperate."
Twelve months on, twelve more to go
Floodwaters lapped across Alysia Mann's kitchen bench at her Auchenflower home one year ago.
She didn't apply for a buyback, instead opting to raise her home three metres to protect the house from future flooding.
Months on from that decision, Ms Mann and husband Adam can't find a builder to begin construction and don't think the home will be finished for at least another year.
"When we left with a few possessions in our cars and nowhere to go, we had no idea that a year on we'd be standing in a shell of a house and not knowing when we'd be back in," Ms Mann said.
"It’s been very stressful, just not having any time frame. We've got three little kids so being in a small rental has been really tough.
"Our possessions that we could salvage are in boxes and we haven’t been able to unpack, which has been really tough on the kids.
"We just want to come back to our house, we love it here."
Elis Ancuta also decided to raise her home in Newmarket, after floodwaters swept through the bottom floor of her two-storey home last year.
She and her partner had insurance, helping to cover the estimated $100,000 in repairs.
She's confident her family is better equipped for the future.
"I feel safer, definitely safer, and I’m mentally and physically prepared now, I know what to do now," Ms Ancuta said.
"I know it could happen again. But I just hope that it won't."
Almost a quarter of insurance claims ongoing
Only last week, the Insurance Council of Australia (ICA) held several meetings across south-east Queensland to assist flood victims still struggling with their claims.
ICA chief executive Andrew Hall said the majority of claims had been completed.
"Insurers are assisting their customers by finalising assessments, repairs and rebuilds and completing claims, with more than 78 per cent of the 239,000 claims now closed," Mr Hall said.
"Many people prefer to discuss their claim in-person, and as the one-year anniversary approaches insurers are undertaking another round of in-person consultations to complete more claims.
"The estimated insurance cost of this event is $5.7 billion, making it Australia's most costly natural disaster."
According to the ICA, there were almost 115,000 insurance claims made in Queensland after the disaster, at a cost of almost $3 billion.
Flood-damaged homes still selling
A flood-ravaged house in Cullen Street at Windsor is under offer for $685,000.
Agent Michael Ortiz was handling the sale, which was pitched as "perfect for the astute investor with options also including demolition (quote available) to make way for a new build or re-locatable character home if on a budget".
It stands on a 405-square-metre block and the entire street went under in 2022, when water rose above the first level of most homes.
Mr Ortiz said properties in flood zones were "certainly not lemons".
"Each property has a few nuances around its flood risk, it is at an appropriate price to mitigate flood risk," he said.
"People are (asking) what is the risk, is it deemed low risk or high risk, usually questions around how high the water got in the last flood.
"The next question is how can we mitigate that in the future. Can we lift the house or are we better off demolishing the whole house and building something new that is a bit higher up."
He said the buyer of the Cullen Street home intended to lift it.
"It has sold at land value plus a little bit more. So the house still has some value, the bones do have some value," he said.
Mr Ortiz said at least 30 flooded home owners had been in contact to try and sell in the area.
"Other people are opting to stay to invest in the property to make it viable," he said.
"I think there are certainly workarounds when it comes to flooding.
"Going as high as possible, it is going to be your safest prospect.
"While it may look a little strange, practically it makes sense."
