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On the eve of an inquiry into last year's devastating Victorian floods, some people are still unable to return to their homes 10 months after the waters swept through Rochester.
Key points:
- A temporary village for people affected by the floods has closed
- Some residents have moved to other accommodation but many remain displaced
- A parliamentary inquiry into the floods will conduct public hearings in Rochester and Echuca this week
Hundreds of homes and businesses in the town, 200 kilometres north of Melbourne, were ruined and many of the town's more than 3,000 residents were displaced.
Some are fortunate enough to be back in their homes, but Lyn Francis is still waiting.
"The water came up [5 centimetres] over the floor," she said.
"I actually had grass growing out of a rug on the floor a week after the flood."
Residents still waiting on flood repairs
Repairs on her home have begun, but Ms Francis was not sure when they would be finished.
"I've been told another eight weeks, but I really don't know whether that's going to happen because I've been promised things and they haven't happened," she said.
"I do feel sorry for a lot of people who are worse off than me."
Ms Francis was one of the Rochester residents who stayed in a temporary village at nearby Elmore, created to house flood victims who were unable to return home.
At the peak of the flood response, Elmore Village, as it was known, was home to 200 people.
Ms Francis said she was one of the last to leave when it closed on August 15.
Last week she dropped off the keys to the caravan she had called home for nine months and moved into an Airbnb in Echuca.
"I had to ring up my insurance company and get them to help me find accommodation," Ms Francis said.
Other Rochester residents who are not yet able to return to their own homes have been offered short-term modular houses at the local caravan park.
But Ms Francis said she was ineligible to stay in one of the caravan park's modular homes because she has a dog, and the caravan park is pet-free.
Catherine Kearney moved into a one-bedroom modular home at the caravan park the weekend before Elmore Village closed.
"This is wonderful … terra firma," she said.
"Not that I was ungrateful for the caravan, but I've got space here."
Ms Kearney stayed at Elmore Village for about four months.
"For me, it was a very positive experience; we were very well looked after," she said.
"The Anglicare staff who have been our case managers work so tirelessly, they've been wonderful."
Support flows for flood victims
Ms Kearney does not know how long she will be staying in the modular home, but says she has been pleased with the support she has received from Emergency Recovery Victoria (ERV).
"I qualified for their Structural Make-safe Program. So they've done the demolishing inside, including removing some asbestos, so now they've finished the mould treatment," Ms Kearney said.
"I'm just waiting for the next phase, which is to re-establish the plasterboard."
The Elmore Village site has been decommissioned in preparation for the Elmore Field Days, being held the week before the first anniversary of the floods.
Instead of a sombre occasion, Rochester residents will have a reason to celebrate on October 14, with a festival called Rochella planned.
"Recovery can take a long time," Music Victoria chief executive Simone Schinkel said.
"Communities like Rochester need days like this to acknowledge how far they've come and to let live music, good food, and community lift spirits."
Elmore Village closed too soon, says resident
Residents who still did not have their homes to move back into were hoping Elmore Village could have stayed open a little longer.
"We were just sort of hoping that our houses would have been ready," Ms Francis said.
"The closer the time came, the more people were getting depressed and the whole atmosphere of the place changed."
Ms Francis did not know what awaited her after her six-week stay in the Airbnb.
"It's not a nice feeling, not knowing where you're going to be," she said.
Displaced resident feels like 'a problem'
ERV chief executive Mariela Diaz said Elmore Village residents had gone on to modular houses at the caravan park, public housing, and other rental options, while some residents had returned home.
"At the core of this program was the principle that no-one would be kicked out into homelessness," Ms Diaz said.
"We will work with every individual on a one-to-one basis to ensure the longer-term options we found for them are suitable to their circumstances.
"Where we weren't able to find long-term accommodation, we made sure there were temporary solutions … and we will continue to work with them."
But Ms Francis felt like she had become a problem.
"At the start, everybody was with us, then we got forgotten, then we became a problem.
"It's a horrible feeling, having a house but not being able to go back to it."
Parliamentary inquiry heads to regional flood zones
The parliamentary inquiry into last year's floods will travel to Rochester and Echuca this week for public hearings.
Rochester resident Eliza Watson helped drum up support for submissions from her community.
She said she was so proud of her community for putting its voices out there.
"I shared it on social media and said, "Can you please let me know if you've made a submission?" Ms Watson said.
"As soon as other people started to say, 'Yeah, I've done it, and it was easy, I'm really glad I did.'
"That kind of started the ball rolling and it just took off.
"I think we're up to 400 or something submissions."
The inquiry has a full day planned for Wednesday in Rochester, with a further 90 minutes scheduled for residents to share their stories after the public hearing has concluded.
The inquiry is looking into Victoria's preparedness for, and response to, last October's devastating floods.
"What we've been through has been horrific, and it's been a very drawn-out process," Ms Watson said.
"I really wanted people to have the opportunity to share that story, not only of the night when it all happened but also everything that's come after it.
"In sharing their story, we're hopefully painting a picture of the devastation that's happened here and how ongoing that is and how multi-pronged it is.
The mayor of the Campaspe shire, Cr Rob Amos, said the recovery was still ongoing.
"There are still too many roadblocks in the way, particularly with getting funding, to get our community back where it needs to be," he said.
"There has been much progress, but there is still a long way to go."
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