By Matthew Sims
Star Weekly has looked back at our editions and picked out a selection of our favourite stories from 2022, including the story of the Maribyrnong community uniting in grief and recovery following October 2022’s major flooding event.
A number of hard rubbish piles and large swathes of silt and debris has been strewn across Maribyrnong’s streets, as clean-up continues across properties following the flooding of the Maribyrnong River.
Resident Teresa Maisano has said the most significant loss for her was her vegetable garden, which will have to be fully excavated.
She has lived at the property since 1987, but said she has never seen flooding damage to this extent.
Mrs Maisano said she had been informed she may not be able to replant her garden for two years due to potential contaminants in the soil from the flooding.
“It’s like a glue,“ she said.
“I have to throw everything out.
“You can never buy fresh veggies like this.“
Mrs Maisano said the support from the community has been “wonderful“.
Facebook group Flood Warriors has attracted more than 2000 members to co-ordinate help needed and support available in the days following.
Resident Rabia Menekse said she was “devastated“ by the extent of the damage.
“We’re mentally not in a good state,“ she said.
Fellow resident Kristen Roberts said she was “angry“ about a number of things, including Victoria Racing Club’s decision to construct a flood wall at the Flemington Racecourse, as well as getting a 5.50am wake-up call, when they should have been evacuating by 3am.
“That’s frustrating, get on a megaphone,“ she said.
However, Mrs Roberts said they had received a wealth of support from far and wide.
“We’ve seen the best of the best,“ she said.
“We’ve got a good community.“
Mrs Roberts said they had a long road ahead of them in terms of recovery.
“We are going to rebuild and we’re going to stay,“ she said.
“I want to live here forever.
“I think we need to do it better next time.“
Resident Lisa Quinsee said she wanted an immediate testing of the soil to determine what was in it, with residents deciding that the majority of their property will have to be thrown away.
“My concern is we are flanked by three petrol stations,“ she said.
“We just want to know if it’s safe.“
Resident Nikita Boyd said he learnt about the rising flood waters at Maribyrnong River at about 7am on Friday, October 14.
“I woke up and checked my phone,“ he said.
“I was definitely a little late on it.
“If I left it 15 minutes later, my car would have been flooded.“
