By Tobi Loftus, ABC
Helen Youngberry says she doesn't know if her organisation could survive another flood. Photo: ABC/Tobi Loftus
Helen Youngberry has only just been able to get back on her feet after her homeless charity was devastated by major flooding in south-east Queensland in 2022.
With Tropical Cyclone Alfred looming off the Queensland coast, the Goodna local is yet again preparing for the worst but hoping for the best.
The Bureau of Meteorology has warned the system, expected to hit in the early hours of Friday morning, has the potential to cause "major flooding" along rivers in the region.
The bureau's flood watch includes the Lower Brisbane River and surrounding creeks in the Ipswich area, west of Brisbane.
It's that warning that has Helen Youngberry worried - and she's monitoring updates closely.
In 2022, her charity Goodna Street Life was based out of an old pub in the centre of Goodna, when it was inundated by the Brisbane River and nearby Woogaroo Creek.
"We lost up to the second … level," she said.
"We lost all of our food, all of our motel rooms.
"If we get hit, it'll be the end of Goodna Street Life. We don't have anything. We recovered only just."
The organisation is now based in a shopfront just up the road - which also flooded in 2022.
Youngberry said volunteers have been removing computers and important items from the building to be on the safe side, as well as boarding up windows with cardboard.
"We're not supposed to get the wind [the coastal areas are] getting, but the fact is it's still strong now and blowing over garbage [bins]," she said.
"So, if it starts to increase, it's more if something blows into our windows, it stops them from smashing."
Goodna Street Life in Ipswich has put cardboard on their windows in the hope it'll stop any damage from loose objects. Photo: ABC/Tobi Loftus
A voluntary home buyback scheme set up after the 2022 has seen 79 homes in Goodna bought back by the local council, with support of other levels of government.
Across the entire Ipswich local government area, about 204 homes have been purchased, across 16 suburbs.
Despite this, many remain living in at-risk areas.
Dozens of residents visited a pop-up sandbag station in Goodna on Wednesday. Photo: ABC/Tobi Loftus
Dozens of Goodna residents spent Wednesday morning shovelling sand into bags at a makeshift station at a local park.
Resident Ash Barton said he was "lucky" his house didn't flood in 2022, but he's taking extra precautions this year.
"I've never been through a cyclone," he said.
Barton said he had cleared his garden and was sandbagging parts of his house to try and keep out water if river and creek rises occurred.
Goodna resident Ash Barton said he's never been through a cyclone. Photo: ABC/Tobi Loftus
Ipswich Mayor Teresa Harding said the council was pausing bin collections on Thursday and Friday, and closing down other services as well.
"While our coastal councils will bear the brunt of Tropical Cyclone Alfred, his destructive winds and heavy rain will certainly have an impact on Ipswich," she said.
Harding said there would likely be "wind, rain and flooding impacts" on her community.
A similar situation is playing out in the Logan City Council area.
Mayor Jon Raven said a flood watch was currently in place for the Albert and Logan Rivers.
"On Sunday and potentially Monday we could see riverine flooding as all the heavy rains come up through the rivers," Raven said.
"The worst-case scenario we're looking at is similar to the 2022 floods.
"So, if you experienced inundation in your home, which is just over 300 homes across Logan, you might experience that again.
But he said that was the "worst case scenario".
"The most probable outcome that the [bureau] is predicting has a much, much smaller flood than that - which is what we're hoping for."
The council has opened a place of refuge at Caddies Jimboomba and the Bethania Community Centre - and will open an evacuation centre on Thursday morning at 7am at Logan Metro Indoor Sports at Crestmead.
Helen Youngberry says Goodna Street Life might not survive another flood. Photo: ABC/Tobi Loftus
Back in Goodna, Helen Youngberry said she was concerned what would happen to her community if Goodna flooded again like in 2022 and 2011.
"I think Goodna [would be in] in a lot of trouble," she said.
"You have people who haven't rebuilt their houses. Who haven't had buybacks or had their houses lifted. I think that would render it a desert there.
"I can't imagine recovering again after the floods of 2022 and I can't imagine people wanting to."
- This story was first published by ABC
