By Taylah Eastwell
The trauma and the triumphs of the Dandenong Ranges community following the catastrophic storm will soon be compiled in the form of a book.
A group of creative professionals in the Hills are working to put together a book full of the stories of Dandenong Ranges residents both during the storm and in the aftermath.
Belgrave local and ex-journalist Edouard Morton (Eddie) envisioned the idea after his own terrifying experience during the storm on 9 June.
“Where this idea came from was on the night of the storm, my family moved away from my place up on the hill in Belgrave to my mum’s on Monbulk Road. We were all tucked up in bed when one giant, massive tree fell down on the room we were all sleeping in,” Eddie said.
“The following days after that people were just sort of scrambling to make sense of it all or get the fixing happening. It was only a few days later that the emotion caught up with me.
Having already published a community-focused book during his time in Hong Kong, Eddie saw the perfect opportunity to fill pages full of stories after one of the most destructive weather events the Hills has experienced to date.
The book will be focused on the community and their resilience to rebuild and restart their lives.
“I don’t want this whole book to be about the storm, the storm will be in the background. It will talk initially about this community and what makes it up, and then the storm, and then the recovery and we’ve got fantastic resources from CFA and SES and they’re all going to be involved in some way or another,” he said.
Eddie hopes the book will be a way for people to tell their story, to vent and move forward.
“People were really crying out for an avenue to tell their story and they still are. There have been so many posts on social media of people just needing to vent. An event like that makes you go through these emotional stages and that’s the wonderful thing about writing is pulling all these things together and giving people an outlet,” he said.
Since posting the idea of a book to social media, Mr Morton described the reaction as “gung-ho”.
“I’m taking calls and messages at all hours of the day. I’ve been up to Kalorama a couple of times and we’ve organised a time with the CFA and SES. The community has responded in a really strong way. A lot of the people I’ve spoken to end up in tears at the end because they walk through that night again which can be a bit traumatic,” he said.
“I’m not a mental health professional in any shape or form but I think people really see a benefit in sharing their story.
To capture the visuals for the book, Mr Morton approached Upwey photographer Alex Inglis.
“Ed had the idea and called me. But it was strange, I already knew what he was going to ask and agreed before he’d even finished asking. It’s like it was meant to be,” Alex said.
“We could have picked up chainsaws, but there are guys who can do that far better than us. Hence why we decided to use what we do best to give back to the community,” he said.
While Alex has taken some photos of the physical impacts of the storm, the book’s main focus is on people – not the grim disaster – so he is working on setting up portraits that help tell the amazing stories that are emerging.
“Situations like this bring out the best in people. Any previous prejudices that were there, are lost. The community just bands together regardless to help each other out. The book simply seeks to show how disasters like this bring out the best in humanity,” he said.
The project now has four dedicated professionals on board, Eddie as writer, Alex as photographer, Zoe Powell as editor and Sophie Sirninger Rankin as designer.
According to Eddie, the timeline for publishing will depend on “support from higher powers”, whether it be businesses, council or other interested locals.
“We want people to look at this book and be proud of the community they are or were a part of and all of the wonderful initiatives and humanity,” Eddie said.
