While people around the world are feeling sympathy for those impacted by Hurricane Harvey, those who lost their homes to flooding in Sydney say they can feel true empathy, having gone through something so similar themselves.
Terry Drohan, who lost his home after more than 200 millimetres of rain fell on the Sydney area in 2016, says he’s been keeping a close eye on the events in Houston.
"Seeing people evacuate from their homes on air mattresses, and things like that,” says Drohan. “It's hard to believe on such a beautiful day that this whole area ... was engulfed in a flood similar to Texas."
It’s been 10 months since flood waters washed away several Sydney homes. Drohan says there are still outstanding issues and unresolved feelings of loss.
“It's $50,000 to $100,000 in replacing contents, and that's a bit of a struggle for a lot of us. We really felt alone through the whole process," says Drohan.
As the latest abandoned building is ripped apart, Drohan says it only does more to refresh their memories.
"Not knowing which way to turn. That's sort of the hardest reminder,” he says. “It's a hard thing to put into words unless you've actually gone through it."
Drohan says he knows those in Texas will have a long road ahead in picking up the pieces, but believes they’ll be able to do so.
"My advice would be that life goes on, that you can rebuild and be happy again. But just give yourself time to absorb what happened," he says.
With files from CTV Atlantic’s Ryan MacDonald.
