The impact of the 2011 Skipton flood has not been forgotten, according to resident Pat Gabb.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
That’s why, more than three years after flood waters inundated the town, the community is banding behind a film about the disaster.
The project co-ordinator, Ms Gabb said Clunes filmmaker Paul Gorsuch had recorded the stories of more than 30 residents in the aftermath of the January 2011 event.
His eagerly-awaited film What Will We Call This Flood will premiere at the Skipton Town Hall on June 14.
“It was such a big flood ... no one has ever experienced anything like it in Skipton,” Ms Gabb said.
“It was such a big experience for so many people.”
The film – a combination of movie, stills, interviews and sound – is the finale of a project that started with a photographic exhibition and book in 2011.
Ms Gabb said it featured a variety of people and stories.
“We were running the initial photo exhibition and we did some initial recording of interviews that night,” Ms Gabb said. “We thought they were so good, we had to do more.”
Flood waters cut Skipton in half on January 13, 2011, in the town’s second major flood in a matter of months.
Along with many homes, businesses also bore the brunt of the metre-high water.
Ms Gabb said the flood affected the wider district too.
“The farmers were trying to harvest their crops and they couldn’t,” she said.
Ms Gabb said today the town was doing well but residents had not forgotten and a focus on flood remediation works remained.
rachel.afflick@fairfaxmedia.com.au