March 9, 2026 • 7 mins
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
Over the weekend. Had you looked at some national media
outlets over the weekend, well you'd have learned absolutely nothing
about flooding in Catherine and it surrounds. Of course, that
doesn't include our local outlets who've kept people well informed.
But there's one person who's done an exceptional job at
keeping his local community up to date with what's going on.
(00:21):
And well he joins me on the line right now.
It is Trent to with good morning to your Trent.
Speaker 2 (00:27):
Morning, Katie.
Speaker 1 (00:28):
Oh mate, you've had a bloody big weekend. Obviously I
spoke to you on Friday. You were really concerned about
what was going on, and unfortunately the town ended up
inundated with water.
Speaker 2 (00:42):
Yeah, my gut was telling me something gaty, and we
were watching it happen, and they just didn't seem to
be enough panic in other people to see what was
unfolding in front of us. But yeah, as I spoke
to you, I think it was Friday, was it? I was, yeah,
moving guns out and sandbagging in front of the shop,
and rightly so, it did exactly what we suspected it
(01:03):
would do.
Speaker 1 (01:04):
People have been glued to your updates strength I know
that the member for Catherine paid tribute to your hard
work on the weekend and you said yesterday you'd lost
two kere loaves over the weekend. You must be naked.
Speaker 2 (01:16):
I'm ready for a bike ride in a competition now, Katie,
I'm tuned up. It was really good. Me brother was
side by side with me the whole time, and we
were just yeah, we were sleeping in the shop because
we couldn't get home anyway, so we were sleeping in
the shop, and we were just pretty much every couple
of hours doing a few laps around the place, and yeah,
(01:37):
just trying to keep people who weren't in town informed
on what was going on, because I myself would also
if I wasn't here, I'd like to know what's going on,
where the water currently is and what it's up to,
because there wasn't a whole lot of information available unless
you know how to read the grass and the data
and the tables that come from all our gauging stations,
and then you have to sort of understand what that
(01:57):
actually means. Yeah, it's a bit, it's a bit of there.
Speaker 1 (02:02):
Yeah, yeah, Trent, tell us what's the word on the
street this morning? How are people feeling? You know, I
know there was a heap of rain last night as well.
Speaker 2 (02:11):
Yeah, I put it this ocati. The sand bag is
still at the front of my shop. Yeah yeah, I'm
not in a hurry to do anything at all. I'm
going to wait till at least probably Saturday at this stage,
because not in any way panicked by anything, but there
seems to be somewheather coming on Thursday, Friday possibly, and
(02:33):
so we're just sitting waiting. And at the moment, I mean,
the gorge has now gone from falling and it's had
a rise overnight. It's back to four point nine to nine,
which means it's still above minor flood level in the gorge.
The bridge is on sixteen point one meters, which is
still an absolute mountain of water. And now we're going
to see a steady out of the Castron River at
(02:56):
the bridge because of that rise in the gorge last night.
Stop falling soon and that next sort of you know,
just stabilization of water will come through and it will
it will stop falling and it will maybe even rise
slightly this afternoon and then if we don't get any
more run in the gorge and it continues to fall,
amazing Yep, it's not. Things could change quickly.
Speaker 1 (03:17):
Yeah, And I guess that everybody would be on really
high alert, or I know I would be. I'd be
doing exactly what you are where you're thinking. No, I'm
not going to move those sand bags just yet. I'm
just going to wait and watch.
Speaker 2 (03:29):
Yeah, And a lot of my friends, so the Gorge
Road has just had access restored to it now so
you can get out as far as Maude Creek, and
so all of my friends and family and that that
live on Gorge Road who have been isolated for two
to three days have all come in this morning with
trailers and jerry cans to get fuel for their generators
to refuel so that they can go back out there
in case Bullakey Creek and two Mile come back up again.
(03:51):
So they're all they're all preparing just for just in case.
You know, Like I said, there's no panic in anyone.
But they're all long terms, so they all know what
how to read the weather and what it's doing, and
so they're all looking at it the moment going well,
we need to just sort of prepare a game for
something else.
Speaker 1 (04:08):
Mate, before I let you go, like, how is the
damage and how are people really banding together to help
one another out?
Speaker 2 (04:18):
Yeah, yesterday we went to see Dave at Gremlin Electronics.
It was right in the firing line of the river
on the northern side of town, breaks its banks and
travels basically around the town and then enters the river again.
And he's pretty much got two houses in that line
of fire, and so it was up to my head
(04:39):
in his houses. So we just went around there. We
weren't asked to do anything, no one was asked to
go there. We just rocked up there. There was about
fifty of us, pulled everything out of his house, salvage
what could be salvaged, and then took to it with
pressure cleaners and got all the mud and stuff out.
And hopefully he's getting power restored today and he'll be
able to sta drying things out, drying walls out, drawing
(05:02):
kitchen academy out to see what the damage is and
go from there.
Speaker 1 (05:06):
Well hopefully, you know, hopefully not. I don't know, Like
I really hope that you know that things do calm
down over the coming days and that you guys get
some retreat reprieve. I should say, Trent, I really appreciate
all your time this morning and over the course of
the weekend, I know that so many people have appreciated
what you have done as well. Mate, Before I let
(05:29):
you go, what's your brother's name? Is he the quiet
one in the family? Is he?
Speaker 2 (05:33):
Yeah, Brandon doesn't like He doesn't like to he doesn't
like much attention. But you know, actually it's funny because
he was driving along yesterday and a massive storm wrapped
in town and him and I are on the phone
and we're on different sides of the town and I
saw this lightning bolt hit on Lindy on Giles Street. Sorry,
and he was right at the tree that it hit,
(05:54):
and it exploded in front of him. And then he
sent me a video of him filming the tree and
every second word was an f bottom And all he
said to me was he said, I can't do this
face to talk thing that you do because my language
is as.
Speaker 1 (06:10):
Oh, well, mate, I'm pleased that you're the communicator in
the family. I'm the communicator in mine as well. Most
of us have the one that likes to talk, but
it sounds like Brendan prefers to be behind the behind
the count.
Speaker 2 (06:22):
Yeah. He was really good to have, especially you know
through those flood walls and stuff, and it was awesome
to have someone else there with me.
Speaker 1 (06:27):
Oh well, good on you both, and tell him thank
you as well, because I know that everybody's appreciated that.
And I tell you, what you've out done like a
lot of the national media, you know, I don't even
think we've got rated to mention on some of the
news outlets over the course of the weekend.
Speaker 2 (06:45):
Yeah, it's funny how it worked out that way. And
I you know, there's no I'm not yeah for me.
I'm just I just want to slink back into the
shadows now. But I just wanted to, you know, from
my point of view sort of, I've been here long
enough to know how things work and the way the
water flows. So it's good to just give people a
you know, not a blow in report, and actual person
that can sort of see it happening and knows what
(07:06):
the next step might be thought on.
Speaker 1 (07:08):
And Mate, that's what we love about you. You're not
there seeking attention. You're doing it just out of the
goodness of your heart to try and help your fellow
community members. I think that's a great thing to do.
So a big thanks to you, Trent, and to your
brother Brendan, and we'll talk to you again very soon.
Speaker 2 (07:23):
All good, Just wore I go. There are a lot
of other people too, you know, Ben Hockey and doing
a hold and there's a lot of people doing a
lot of work in this town. And yeah, it's a
huge community effort coming together. A lot of people organizing
clean up crews and that as well.
Speaker 1 (07:35):
So good order.
Speaker 2 (07:37):
Yeah, unfortunately I just get a bit more airtime, but
those guys are working hard in the background as well.
Speaker 1 (07:42):
Trent. We love your work mate, Thank you, thanks for
coming on. Always appreciate it.
Over the weekend. Had you looked at some national media
outlets over the weekend, well you'd have learned absolutely nothing
about flooding in Catherine and it surrounds. Of course, that
doesn't include our local outlets who've kept people well informed.
But there's one person who's done an exceptional job at
keeping his local community up to date with what's going on.
(00:21):
And well he joins me on the line right now.
It is Trent to with good morning to your Trent.
Speaker 2 (00:27):
Morning, Katie.
Speaker 1 (00:28):
Oh mate, you've had a bloody big weekend. Obviously I
spoke to you on Friday. You were really concerned about
what was going on, and unfortunately the town ended up
inundated with water.
Speaker 2 (00:42):
Yeah, my gut was telling me something gaty, and we
were watching it happen, and they just didn't seem to
be enough panic in other people to see what was
unfolding in front of us. But yeah, as I spoke
to you, I think it was Friday, was it? I was, yeah,
moving guns out and sandbagging in front of the shop,
and rightly so, it did exactly what we suspected it
(01:03):
would do.
Speaker 1 (01:04):
People have been glued to your updates strength I know
that the member for Catherine paid tribute to your hard
work on the weekend and you said yesterday you'd lost
two kere loaves over the weekend. You must be naked.
Speaker 2 (01:16):
I'm ready for a bike ride in a competition now, Katie,
I'm tuned up. It was really good. Me brother was
side by side with me the whole time, and we
were just yeah, we were sleeping in the shop because
we couldn't get home anyway, so we were sleeping in
the shop, and we were just pretty much every couple
of hours doing a few laps around the place, and yeah,
(01:37):
just trying to keep people who weren't in town informed
on what was going on, because I myself would also
if I wasn't here, I'd like to know what's going on,
where the water currently is and what it's up to,
because there wasn't a whole lot of information available unless
you know how to read the grass and the data
and the tables that come from all our gauging stations,
and then you have to sort of understand what that
(01:57):
actually means. Yeah, it's a bit, it's a bit of there.
Speaker 1 (02:02):
Yeah, yeah, Trent, tell us what's the word on the
street this morning? How are people feeling? You know, I
know there was a heap of rain last night as well.
Speaker 2 (02:11):
Yeah, I put it this ocati. The sand bag is
still at the front of my shop. Yeah yeah, I'm
not in a hurry to do anything at all. I'm
going to wait till at least probably Saturday at this stage,
because not in any way panicked by anything, but there
seems to be somewheather coming on Thursday, Friday possibly, and
(02:33):
so we're just sitting waiting. And at the moment, I mean,
the gorge has now gone from falling and it's had
a rise overnight. It's back to four point nine to nine,
which means it's still above minor flood level in the gorge.
The bridge is on sixteen point one meters, which is
still an absolute mountain of water. And now we're going
to see a steady out of the Castron River at
(02:56):
the bridge because of that rise in the gorge last night.
Stop falling soon and that next sort of you know,
just stabilization of water will come through and it will
it will stop falling and it will maybe even rise
slightly this afternoon and then if we don't get any
more run in the gorge and it continues to fall,
amazing Yep, it's not. Things could change quickly.
Speaker 1 (03:17):
Yeah, And I guess that everybody would be on really
high alert, or I know I would be. I'd be
doing exactly what you are where you're thinking. No, I'm
not going to move those sand bags just yet. I'm
just going to wait and watch.
Speaker 2 (03:29):
Yeah, And a lot of my friends, so the Gorge
Road has just had access restored to it now so
you can get out as far as Maude Creek, and
so all of my friends and family and that that
live on Gorge Road who have been isolated for two
to three days have all come in this morning with
trailers and jerry cans to get fuel for their generators
to refuel so that they can go back out there
in case Bullakey Creek and two Mile come back up again.
(03:51):
So they're all they're all preparing just for just in case.
You know, Like I said, there's no panic in anyone.
But they're all long terms, so they all know what
how to read the weather and what it's doing, and
so they're all looking at it the moment going well,
we need to just sort of prepare a game for
something else.
Speaker 1 (04:08):
Mate, before I let you go, like, how is the
damage and how are people really banding together to help
one another out?
Speaker 2 (04:18):
Yeah, yesterday we went to see Dave at Gremlin Electronics.
It was right in the firing line of the river
on the northern side of town, breaks its banks and
travels basically around the town and then enters the river again.
And he's pretty much got two houses in that line
of fire, and so it was up to my head
(04:39):
in his houses. So we just went around there. We
weren't asked to do anything, no one was asked to
go there. We just rocked up there. There was about
fifty of us, pulled everything out of his house, salvage
what could be salvaged, and then took to it with
pressure cleaners and got all the mud and stuff out.
And hopefully he's getting power restored today and he'll be
able to sta drying things out, drying walls out, drawing
(05:02):
kitchen academy out to see what the damage is and
go from there.
Speaker 1 (05:06):
Well hopefully, you know, hopefully not. I don't know, Like
I really hope that you know that things do calm
down over the coming days and that you guys get
some retreat reprieve. I should say, Trent, I really appreciate
all your time this morning and over the course of
the weekend, I know that so many people have appreciated
what you have done as well. Mate, Before I let
(05:29):
you go, what's your brother's name? Is he the quiet
one in the family? Is he?
Speaker 2 (05:33):
Yeah, Brandon doesn't like He doesn't like to he doesn't
like much attention. But you know, actually it's funny because
he was driving along yesterday and a massive storm wrapped
in town and him and I are on the phone
and we're on different sides of the town and I
saw this lightning bolt hit on Lindy on Giles Street. Sorry,
and he was right at the tree that it hit,
(05:54):
and it exploded in front of him. And then he
sent me a video of him filming the tree and
every second word was an f bottom And all he
said to me was he said, I can't do this
face to talk thing that you do because my language
is as.
Speaker 1 (06:10):
Oh, well, mate, I'm pleased that you're the communicator in
the family. I'm the communicator in mine as well. Most
of us have the one that likes to talk, but
it sounds like Brendan prefers to be behind the behind
the count.
Speaker 2 (06:22):
Yeah. He was really good to have, especially you know
through those flood walls and stuff, and it was awesome
to have someone else there with me.
Speaker 1 (06:27):
Oh well, good on you both, and tell him thank
you as well, because I know that everybody's appreciated that.
And I tell you, what you've out done like a
lot of the national media, you know, I don't even
think we've got rated to mention on some of the
news outlets over the course of the weekend.
Speaker 2 (06:45):
Yeah, it's funny how it worked out that way. And
I you know, there's no I'm not yeah for me.
I'm just I just want to slink back into the
shadows now. But I just wanted to, you know, from
my point of view sort of, I've been here long
enough to know how things work and the way the
water flows. So it's good to just give people a
you know, not a blow in report, and actual person
that can sort of see it happening and knows what
(07:06):
the next step might be thought on.
Speaker 1 (07:08):
And Mate, that's what we love about you. You're not
there seeking attention. You're doing it just out of the
goodness of your heart to try and help your fellow
community members. I think that's a great thing to do.
So a big thanks to you, Trent, and to your
brother Brendan, and we'll talk to you again very soon.
Speaker 2 (07:23):
All good, Just wore I go. There are a lot
of other people too, you know, Ben Hockey and doing
a hold and there's a lot of people doing a
lot of work in this town. And yeah, it's a
huge community effort coming together. A lot of people organizing
clean up crews and that as well.
Speaker 1 (07:35):
So good order.
Speaker 2 (07:37):
Yeah, unfortunately I just get a bit more airtime, but
those guys are working hard in the background as well.
Speaker 1 (07:42):
Trent. We love your work mate, Thank you, thanks for
coming on. Always appreciate it.
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