Susanna Freymark
Shelly Hayes wants to hear your flood stories.
The retired school teacher is writing and collecting stories about the 2022 flood experiences of people living in Coraki and surrounds.
Shelly feels the stories from Coraki residents haven’t been told and it is important to record them for historical purposes.
Shelly has lived in Coraki for 15 years and had to leave her home when floodwaters rose and rose to something “that’s never happened before.”
Three years on, Shelly remembers how it felt.
”The most confronting thing was it felt like you’d been assaulted,” she said.
”My house — you think it is impervious — it wasn’t.”
In the aftermath of the floods, she volunteered at the evac centre and heard many stories about the floods.
Firstly, she wrote her own story.
“I needed to get it out of my head,” she said.
“In writing, it’s helped me not feel quite alone.”
Since the floods Shelly has joined a writing group and the Community Resilience Team.
Shelly urges anyone who would like to share their story to contact her by email so she can meet with them. Her email is shellydenmark55@gmail.com
Shelly said people can share their story confidentially and when she writes it up, their identity does not need to be revealed unless they choose to do so.
Shelly hopes to see the flood stories of Coraki published in a book for local libraries and schools.
Here is an extract from Shelly’s short story The Day Ruth Learned the True Meaning of Torrential.
Constant pounding. Ominous gurgling. Incessant dripping. Ruth felt she’d forgotten what silence meant.
Forlorn, Ruth watched her bedraggled garden bend and twist. Torrential – this is what it means. Wind gathered the hard rain, hitting the window in staccato bursts. She could see leaks beginning to course under the old wooden windowsill. Ruth cursed, turning back to her small tidy kitchen. She bent down, awkward because of her tetchy hip. She scrabbled through the bottom drawer for tea-towels to wedge against the incursion.
Ruth had been living on her own for 16 years now – since Harry died. She’d gotten used to it. Quite enjoyed her independence. But on this noisy, pelting day, she felt alone. Vulnerable.
Contact Shelly if you’d like to share your flood story.