Arts
23 December, 2025
Powerful testament to small towns
STORIES from Loddon’s October 2022 floods showing resilience of local people was launched last Friday.
Goldfields Libraries’ Jess Saunders said A Different flood was “a powerful testament to small towns and the people in them”.
She paid credit to former Loddon Shire flood recovery manager Mal Brown who pitched the book idea to add to the record of floods that impacted all parts of the shire.
A Different Flood has 19 of those stories. Among them are the recollections of Salisbury West farmer Colleen Condliffe and Pyramid Hill Fire Brigade captain Steve Mann who read excerpts during the launch.
Author Lucy Mayes said she had aimed to treat each story with respect and hoped the wisdom in the stories could be passed on “multi-generational, side-by-side doing and learning”.
She said people who were socially connected and involved in their communities had done best during and after the major flood.”
Ms Mayes said her message to locals was to get connected in communities and stay connected
Mayor Dan Straub said A Different flood was about people and the long road that had been the shire’s recovery effort.
Copies of A Different Place are available at Goldfields Libraries’ Loddon agencies and Loddon Shire’s Wedderburn office.