The water had receded, the mud was hosed out and most of the contents of Adriana and Marek's house was in a pile on the kerb.
Friends, neighbours and strangers helped extract sodden cupboards and ruined appliances so the couple could set aside stuff to salvage.
They had made good progress, but it will be a long time before their house is livable and much they need before then.
"I really don't know what we need, but pretty much everything," said Marek.
His response is not unusual among people in crisis.
Associate Professor Fiona Charlson, from the Queensland Centre for Mental Health Research, said people affected by a major disaster can feel overwhelmed and emotionally exhausted.
She said making choices and solving problems could be difficult.
With the house cleared of debris, Marek was making swift work of cutting away waterlogged sections of the wall.
Most of the tradesman's tools had been destroyed, so he was working with a paint scraper.
Discarded items had been tossed from a window. On the deck were items to be cleaned. Clothes were heaped in the baby's cot.
On top of the stress of seeing their home trashed and the work that lay ahead, the couple had a baby to look after.
While the ABC was at their house, Neele, a neighbour, dropped by to ask what help they needed, so Marek gave it more thought.
"I guess the priority is tools, and baby things," he said.
"Stuff that we need really quickly to get back and start earning money."
Immediately Neele agreed to drop some baby's toys round. She also offered childcare, coffee and to do laundry for them.
At that Adriana and Marek agreed they would appreciate her doing a load of washing.
A bag of damp clothes exchanged hands.
Dr Charlson said if someone wanted to help a person affected by disaster, they might have to do some of the thinking for them.
She said that does not mean barging in and taking over, but rather suggesting a few ways to help.
Andenique Dreyer had been knocking on neighbours' doors to see how she could help.
She was among the people who helped Adriana and Marek clear out their house.
She said her approach was "see a need — fill a need" but advised anyone doing the same to act with sensitivity.
"Some people may perceive it as not beyond saving."
While sorting through mud-soaked clothes and linen, Adriana pulled out the blanket her son was wrapped in when he was born.
It brought a smile to her face. "It's our history, it's our memories."
Dr Charlson said people reacted very differently to crises.
She said while some try to save as much as they can, others want everything gone so they can start rebuilding.
"People just respond in the best way they can at the time," she said.
But she said if people are not able to make reliable decisions, they can regret not trying to save some things.
Anyone helping Marek clear out his house could be forgiven for thinking a broken vase was for the kerb.
He would have been heartbroken had he lost it.
He said his father bought it in Morocco in 1974.
When his dad passed away, Marek kept it as a reminder of him.
He planned to glue it back together.
"The vase is very precious to me," he said.
As Adriana moved around stuff they hoped to save, the vase was at risk of being knocked over again.
"It's very scary this uncertainty," she said.
Since the flood, they had been staying with a friend, and storing some things in a garage, while they waited for their insurance provider to arranged accommodation.
They said they were cleaning things at one location, storing it elsewhere and had started to lose track of where everything was.
Talking about how hard it was to co-ordinate, they agreed their greatest need was temporary accommodation.
They said they needed somewhere to keep their dog, do laundry and store everything while their house was being renovated.
"We feel like some sort of refugees," said Adriana.
Marek was keen to add that they knew they were still better off than others.
The Polish couple has family in Ukraine.
"There's a lot of family there that are actually struggling much worse than us," he said.
*Adriana and Marek did not provide their surnames.
Full article: https://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-03-06/fairfield-flood-dealing-with-exhaustion-and-distress/100884080
Posted 6 Mar 2022, updated 6 Mar 2022
