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'I tried to follow the road but the rushing waters pushed me into a deep rut where I lost my footing and was swept away downstream in the overflow of the river ... I got very frightened at the noise, and the water swept me along ... but I kept saying to myself, "Don't panic." Hampered by the big mail bag I let it go and within seconds the water swept it out of sight.' Lyn Berlowitz, Bullita Station, Nt From ABC Local Radio Manager of Emergency Broadcasting and senior journalist Ian Mannix comes a collection of 15 stories of humour, survival and courage in the face of one of our country's most powerful natural forces - flood. Across Grantham to Condamine, Kempsey to Bullita Station, flood has devastated this wide brown land, in some instances bringing much needed relief from drought, but in many others bringing tragedy, homelessness and a fight for survival. Ian Mannix charts the pattern of floods in Australia and tells amazing stories of danger and survival, from the women trapped in a house infested with snakes as the floodwaters rose ever higher, to the helicopter rescues of people whose homes were inundated without warning, to the brave townsfolk who saved their outback Queensland towns from the menace of the Warego River with all the odds stacked against them. As in Ian's previous book Great Australian Bushfire Stories, these fascinating accounts from the lips of those who have experienced disaster will give you an understanding of what it is like to face nature at its most deadly, how to prepare and how to recover from its shocking impact.
