Saved by the army
I had the good fortune to work on a feature film that was relocated from Victoria to Queensland due to floods in 2022
We began production, shooting in the town of Echuca, on the victorian border in October 2022 and were eventually evacuated as the flood waters continued to rise surrounding the caravan park, that many of the crew were staying at… the decision was eventually made to relocate the production to Queensland and avoid any further complications due to flooding.
This meant crew could travel home before making their way back a few weeks later. Upon returning I found myself stuck by flood waters, I had gone as far as I could but the roads were covered by floods, I could see a fully submerged car further down the road and had no way of knowing how the deep the water level was and wasn’t willing to take a chance that may end with my car being stuck and either having to swim out or stay put. On checking my mapsI could see it would take at least 3 hours to tune back from where I was now and back track along the way I had come and travel around the flooded areas to be able to get back to Echuca. I was not thrilled by this prospect, I had already been traveling for 10 hours from sydney and spending any more time than I needed to driving was something I really wanted to avoid. I was contemplating my predicament when I heard a large vehicle on the road behind me. It was a large military vehicle with huge tyres and massive clearance…. “where are you headed?” Asked one of the occupants, “Echuca” I replied “We can tow you through…”
And that is what happened, they attached a rope to the front of my car and towed me through the water, water came up over my bonnet and there was no way I would have made it through with these soldiers help who had been stationed in Echuca since the flooding had started.
I am incredibly grateful that they turned up when they did! If they had’t I would have turned around and gone back the way I came.. To the gentleman who stopped and helped me that day Thank you!!
I finally had the opportunity to see the finished film recently for the first time and was very impressed by the film. It was great to see a film I’d worked on finally be screened for an audience.
