|PIC1|Recently south east Queensland experienced, what The Australian newspaper headline described on Thursday 21 May as the worst 'wet' in thirty years. The ABC's Radio National news reported it to be the worst since the Brisbane floods of 1974.
The damp weather initially struck the Sunshine Coast and moved south, creating havoc in Brisbane, taking the life of a Gold Coast man, causing power black-outs and road blockages by fallen trees all the way south to Kempsy in New South Wales.
One resident of Tweed Heads, on the New South Wales-Queensland border, is Well-Being Australia chairman Mark Tronson, a Baptist minister of 32 years who specialises in athlete respite, who had Australian Institute of Sport (AIS) Brisbane appointments that day.
"One might be tempted to humorously ponder that the AIS Diving Unit and the wet may be compatible," M V Tronson chuckled. "But this weather was something completely different."
Mr Ian Carlson, a retired parishioner who is Mark Tronson's volunteer driver on these 'athlete respite' visits, also serves as the voluntary Tweed Heads SES Controller.
"Ian rang me on the Wednesday morning advising me that travel to the two AIS Units the following day was definitely not advised, and the forecasts were that the weather would close in on the Thursday," M V Tronson noted.
This was communicated to the AIS Cricket Unit that 'the big wet' may not allow the Thursday visit and M V Tronson waited until the Thursday morning to speak to Hui Tong, the Head Coach of the AIS Diving Unit.
That Wednesday night 'the big wet' closed in on the Tweed Shire and by 8.00am Ian Carlson mentioned to Mark Tronson that the SES were inundated with calls and the local news reported the floodings and road closures in great detail.
"The AIS Cricket Unit rang me at 8.30am advising me not to attempt to drive into Brisbane due to the situation and I rang Diving's Hui Tong who was equally adamant not to chance it in such conditions," M V Tronson explained.
The message was loud and clear from every quarter M V Tronson said, it was a call to have a day of respite myself.
Meanwhile his wife Delma Tronson was visiting her 82 year old mother in Maclean , a two hour drive south of Tweed Heads.
"Delma couldn't even get back to Tweed Heads that day and delayed her return until 'the big wet' passed. Her widowed mother seemed very pleased to have that additional time with company," M V Tronson mused.