YVONNE Cashen has had an early Christmas with repairs to her Korong Vale home flooded twice in last summer’s storms finished.
Almost a year of living in a caravan ended a fortnight ago and she is now unpacking boxes stored in sheds while the work was done.
It’s a different pace from 12 months ago when Yvonne had Christmas Day plans that included cooking meals for local residents.
They were scuppered when more than 250mm of rain fell into Christmas Day, triggering a fortnight of storms and flooding that saw Wedderburn and Korong Vale hit three times in fortnight and rising rivers and creeks across the Loddon.
The first floods saw Craig Fuller at the Wedderburn Hotel cancel Christmas lunch bookings. The celebrations were postponed a day while around town friends and neighbours helped each other in the clean-up and sporting group volunteers waited for water to recede at Donaldson Park.
Yvonne was among district residents who raised concerns about drain maintenance increasing the impact of flood waters.
“The railway drain opposite my place had not been cleaned in years. This year, after the floods, I saw it being cleared and mowed and they (workers) even took photos of the finished job,” she said.
Last summer was the second time Yvonne’s home had been flood. She had lived through the 2010-2011 recovery.
“The insurance company has been fantastic. You hear complaints about insurance companies but I’ve none with Australian Pensioners’ Insurance,” she said.
“The house was stripped bare and anything that had to be replaced has been. 
“The new curtains will come after Christmas.
“As for Christmas Day this year, the plan is to just relax and then look forward and upwards.”
The summer floods inundated dozens of homes and destroyed hundreds of kilometres of fencing across the shire.