A BIG over-friendly rescue greyhound greeted me when I walked up to the door at Sandra and Russell Pope’s modest home in Goodna.
I was there to speak with them about their troubles in trying to get flood insurance.
“Don’t worry about him, we only just got the dog,” Sandra said as she pushed the dog away and welcomed me into their loungeroom.
As a full-time carer for her husband, I wondered how she also had time to look after a playful greyhound leaping around.
When I asked her about that, she shrugged it off and said “he needed adoption and we have always had dogs around the home.”
Her answer reflected her take on life, get on with it and don’t let things worry you too much.
Unfortunately, Sandra does have a major worry at the moment and that centres around the lead story in today’s paper.
They simply could not afford to pay the massive increase on their latest home insurance quote, so they opted to run the gauntlet and have no flood cover.
For many of us that would be no issue, but when you live in a street just 300 metres or so from the banks of the Bremer River it’s a must have.
So now every time they hear the rain getting harder on their tin roof the Pope’s will start to worry.
A day or two will be okay, but if that rain keeps up, they know their worst nightmare may well happen and if it does it will destroy what future they have left.
Yes, in hindsight buying a house that could be prone to flooding is not the best idea in the world, but it all comes down to what you can afford to pay. For many there is no choice, it’s either buy a cheaper house or maybe live in a caravan park.
Even renting is now out of the question for many as the rental market tightens and prices go up.
Let’s hope for the Pope’s sake we don’t see a flood in Ipswich for years.
