Australia Weather News

The remote Cape York community of Wujal Wujal withstood the fury of category two Cyclone Jasper when it hit the town in the middle of the night this time last year.

But the worst was still to come for its 300 residents.

A lingering storm system dumped two metres of rain to the region, causing the Bloomfield River, 70 kilometres south of Cooktown in Far North Queensland, to burst its banks.

Wujal Wujal was swallowed by floodwaters.

The entire community had to be evacuated, airlifted by army helicopters.

It would be six months until the first of the evacuees were able to return.

Traumatised community still healing

A year since those raging torrents, the trauma still runs deep.

Aunty Kathleen Walker was rescued by helicopter after spending a night stranded on a rooftop.

"Every time I see the rain, I get scared … I still have that trauma and I don't go to sleep," she said.

"I still hear the water, the rocks rolling and I don't know how to get over it."

Authorities are trying to improve Wujal Wujal's preparedness for future disasters.

They are running emergency response drills, with residents encouraged to practice fleeing to shelters and higher ground.

But the Yalanji elder said the blaring sirens were triggering for the community.

"The other day, three alerts went out and when the kids heard the sirens, I could see the kids running flat out, crying," Ms Walker said.

Health service now on higher ground

Wujal Wujal was off limits for six months while authorities fixed critical infrastructure, including a functioning health clinic.

The clinic building was condemned due to flood damage, so Queensland Health had to provide a new temporary facility.

Suzanne Auld has worked for the local health service for 13 years.

She said while the new clinic was smaller, it was still able to service most of the community's health needs.

"We're a 24/7 facility and the place to go if there's an emergency," Ms Auld said.

"We have the helicopter pad so patients can be flown to Cairns if necessary.

"We've lost dental and X-ray but we're getting some of our visiting specialists [like midwives] back.

'Hell on earth' and cut off from the world

Colin "CJ" Fischer and his partner Helen Limbrick run a camping ground and guided walk business on the Cairns Regional Electricity Board (CREB) Track, one of Australia's most challenging four-wheel drive trails linking Daintree Village to Wujal Wujal.

Last year's floods cut them off from the world for two months and the clean-up and extended isolation took a massive physical and mental toll.

And that was after surviving the initial terror.

"It was like hell on earth … it was like a big tsunami coming down, out of control, and if you happened to fall in there you wouldn't stand a chance," Mr Fischer said.

"The days just drag and drag and drag … even though we like living quiet, without that connection to people on the outside, it brought us down."

They also questioned whether this was the final straw after 20 years of remote living in the wet tropics.

"[We wondered] is it worth doing this? Part of you just wants to get the hell out of here … go and live in the desert, somewhere you don't see water," Mr Fischer said.

Stray brings ray of sunshine

But a renewed sense of hope arrived unexpectedly, and on four legs.

"A little puppy we named Benji, he was a stray and he found us, and that really livened us up," Ms Limbrick said.

"He needed us to care for him and that gave us another purpose in life."

"He became our little baby and we forgot about ourselves, our misery … he gave us that spark," Mr Fischer said.

The couple is hopeful business will pick up after this wet season.

"This year was very quiet, we only had a two month opening and there was almost no traffic at all," Ms Limbrick said.

"We're looking forward to next year and hoping all the people that couldn't do the CREB Track will do it next year and we can get back to normal."

Wujal Wujal will receive $14 million as part of a $206 million joint state and federal funding package to help Far North Queensland with the ongoing flood recovery.