Theodore, the first Queensland town to be totally evacuated, reflects on flood disaster 10 years on

On December 28, 2010 the rural town of Theodore made history.

Flood waters were rising in the township, which sits at the junction of the Dawson River and Castle Creek, west of Bundaberg.

Residents were trapped and a mandatory evacuation was called.

It made Theodore, with a population around 300, the first town in Queensland to be totally evacuated.

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Bruce Chater, the town’s resident doctor and a highly valued member of the community since 1981, said it was a very orderly process.

“It was all done by private helicopters,” he said.

In the moment of the town’s worst crisis, Dr Chater was the…