Tomorrow, Grantham resident Matthew Keep and his wife Stacy will be among 70 families who draw a new block of land on the high side of the town in Australia’s first land swap.

His previous house has been demolished. Matthew lost his mother, mother-in-law and baby daughter Jessica in the worst flash flooding in at least a century.

As Amanda Gearing writes in Crikey today: “For seven months he has read every statement, submission, running log, disaster management plan and media article available.”

As he has comforted his grieving wife cared for his two young children Madison, 5, and Jacob, 4, and welcomed a new baby into the family, Matthew has searched for answers for himself and his community. He has broken his media silence to relay this message:

“Don’t be complacent about the risk of natural disasters which strike suddenly. Don’t expect warning. Don’t rely on anyone to save you. Be prepared to protect your own family.”

But what of that final and most important question: how could such a sudden and catastrophic flood claim three members of his family within minutes?

Perhaps ultimately this question is unanswerable. But as Gearing notes today: “complacency that ‘it will never happen’ is no longer an option”.