The 2022 River Murray floods in South Australia were caused by record water inflows from the Murray-Darling Basin due to heavy upstream rainfall. The slowly rising floodwaters inundated homes, businesses, and farmland, causing widespread displacement, infrastructure damage, and agricultural losses. The disaster significantly impacted local economies, communities, and the region's long-term recovery.
This series captures what the headlines couldn't — the lived experience behind one of the most significant flood events in South Australia's recent history. Unlike a flash flood, the River Murray rose slowly, giving communities weeks to watch the water creep closer, sandbag what they could, and brace for what they couldn't stop. For many, the hardest part wasn't the flood itself — it was the long wait, the long recovery, and the long road back.
Through honest, unhurried conversations with the people who lived it, we hear what regional resilience really looks like: the farmers who watched a season's work disappear under water, the small business owners who reopened against the odds, the families displaced from homes that had been in their lives for generations, and the neighbours, volunteers, and emergency responders who showed up when it mattered most.
This is a series about land, water, and the people who refuse to let a region be defined by its hardest year. Whether you've lived through a natural disaster yourself, work in emergency response or recovery, or simply want to understand what regional Australia actually goes through long after the cameras leave, this series invites you to listen, witness, and connect.
This is a special series of the Kintsugi Heroes Podcast.
Kintsugi Heroes is an Australian not-for-profit (DGR endorsed) dedicated to strengthening mental wellbeing through the power of storytelling. We believe lived experience is a gift to be shared, not a scar to be hidden.
To find out more about Kintsugi Heroes and our other podcast series, head to KintsugiHeroes.com.au.
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