A torrent of water swept through Bill Turner's workshop while he was helping his frail neighbour get to safety.
Rising suddenly and with great force, the flood water carried off anything in its path as it tore through properties in the Rosalie neighbourhood of Paddington.
"Fences didn't matter, wheelie bins, anything that was in its way," Mr Turner said.
At its height, the water filling Mr Turner's backyard topped the fence posts.
Almost 24 hours later, the entire space under his house and his yard was still underwater.
"Last night it was a bit of a worry, but we can see that it's coming down now."
And just as he had helped his neighbours when the water rose, they were there when the sun came out to try to salvage some of his equipment.
Having recently split from his partner, Mr Turner was in the process of setting up a workshop under his house when the deluge struck.
"You start, and then you start again," he said.
As the water level slowly dropped, mystery objects revealed themselves on Mr Turner's property — a plastic box containing art supplies, a drawing book and some gloves.
Going through it, he found a driver's licence and perhaps the owner's identity.
Next door, Michael Bremner took delivery of a few foreign appliances.
"This is not my washing machine," he said of the front-loader in his backyard.
A large stainless steel fridge also found its way onto his property, becoming lodged on his driveway as the waters fell.
"It was like a river coming through," he said.
Mr Bremner said flood water swept across the road from properties directly opposite, before tearing around his house and through the back fence.
Inside the house, water rose 40cm up the walls.
Around the corner, partners Cam Brooks and Liz Evans mobilised six of their friends to carry stuff from under their house to safety upstairs.
"It's all fine," Ms Evans said.
They said only about 30cm of water flooded under their house, at first. It receded slightly, but then came back and kept getting higher and higher.
"It came in when they (the authorities) said it would be going down," Mr Brooks said.
As the water rose, a manhole outside their house turned into a fountain, spewing frothy brown water from overwhelmed drains beneath.
"Once that went, it just filled us up," Ms Evans said.
Like many in the neighbourhood, their house is a classic Queenslander — storage below, with the main house out of the reach above.
Likewise the houses a street away, where the water was still so high a day after the floodwater arrived that residents left to stay elsewhere.
Andy Henderson took everything from under their house and was thankful no water made it above the floorboards.
"We are just about in the deepest spot," he said.
Expecting to be away for a while, he waded through knee-deep water to salvage two important items — his motorcycle helmet and a box of savoury biscuits.
"To keep spirits up," he said.
