On Monday afternoon I finally made to BRAG to see the Sunken Houses exhibition. I had really wanted to see it but something had held me back until now. I was spurred into action by the fact it only has a short time left in the gallery. The January floods of 2013 were devastating for the entire community of Bundaberg whether your home or business was affected by water or not. Mine was. Not to the extent that the exhibition highlighted in North Bundaberg which was the worst hit area. But the minute I walked into the gallery and saw these bleakly beautiful photos I was taken back to that stress and anxiety of that time when I watched water surround my house and I was unable to do anything about it. I was fortunate. The damage was minimal in comparison. I was inconvenienced for a few months. My insurer was kind to me. But as this exhibition points out Bundaberg is still feeling the trauma of these floods. The impact of the event and its aftermath will stay with those of us who experienced it for the rest of our lives in many different ways. The exhibition is one valuable way of maintaining an awareness of that fact, recording and documenting the experience while the community works to move forward. For me, as I choked up while looking at the works, I realised that this is a scar I now carry with me, just as the community carries a scar with it. It may fade over time. In fact it will. But it will never disappear completely.