The extent of the damage was unbelievable - and evident from this aerial shot taken by a photographer from the Courier Mail newspaper.
The question is whether the cafe - still sitting behind a fence on the hill overlooking the park - will be returned in the near future. Colleges Crossing will take a long time to recover.
Meanwhile, the debate continues in the media whether it was a flash storm flood -or a riverine flood. How the insurance companies define what destroyed your house or business will determine whether you get financial support or not. There was an attempt by insurers in 2008 to get a proper definition by it was opposed by consumer legal groups - and knocked by by the ACCC.
The insurance council said this morning (ABC Radio) that about 70 percent of claimants will get paid.
Already insurance companies are playing it by the book - their book, and for businesses like Colleges by the River - our insurance cover will never be what it was.
Meantime - our family in Townsville is sitting in the path of a monster cyclone. The hits just keep on coming. The start of 2011 won't be forgotten for a long time in Queensland.
To get an idea of the immensity of this cyclone - click on the headline to this post - for some spectacular colour animation of what is bearing down on the North Queensland coast.
