Editor's note

Hi Everyone,

What a week it’s been!

I feel like we have been constantly at the mercy of the weather – dashing through puddles with battered umbrellas in-hand, overflown creeks and storm drains rampaging through usually dry beds, potholes appearing on almost every road and eternally damp clothes draped over sad looking washing lines – this truly is a wet season.

I remember 20 years ago when I first arrived in town and this was what a wet season looked like every year – you could expect it to rain non-stop for six weeks in January and February.

Over the years this has changed and, especially in the last few years, we haven’t received a deluge like this – it’s easy to forget the speediness in which roads overflow and how quickly our usually bustling tourist towns can come to a standstill – with our road networks cut and our true remoteness exposed.

In newspaper world, this week has been extremely challenging. Now that we have four papers and four regions to navigate (all of which are located in the recent flood danger zone), we have a lot more to keep running, a lot more balls in the air!

All our papers are printed in Townsville and earlier this week there was a very real chance that some papers would not go to print.

In fact, Hinchinbrook Life Newspaper which is only on its 10th edition, having started in November, did not go to print on Monday as planned.

Our cadet journalist, Daniel Heggie, who many of you will be familiar with from his time here the Whitsundays, has been on the ground surviving without power and much running water all week.

Instead of feeling sorry for himself, however, Daniel has been part of the Emergency Relief Program and doorknocking to make sure everyone is ok. He even helped organise the rescue of one of his neighbour’s family members. Good on you Daniel!

While we are worrying about cut-off roads here in the Whitsundays, the worst flooding in 100 years is happening right now in Ingham and I’d like us all to take a minute to think about all those affected.

Rach

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