Mandy was left isolated and alone waiting for help as the waters from her local creek overflowed onto the streets in north-west Brisbane.
She lives with muscular dystrophy and requires daily help from support workers at her home in The Gap.
But as the waters were rising across Brisbane, Mandy's support worker had to leave urgently as their own home was being inundated by water.
"They managed to get out. But they said, 'I don't think I'll be able to make it back in because the water was rising too quickly'," she said.
Mandy* tried to call her sister, who lived on the other side of Enoggera Creek, but she was also unable to reach her.
"No-one could reach me so we just had to wait until the water receded," she said.
Mandy's condition impacts all her muscles, including her lungs, and she must always sleep with a breathing machine.
If she falls asleep without it, there is a strong possibility she will stop breathing.
Mandy forced herself to stay awake for more than 24 hours until someone could help.
"I can't lift my arms to put my breathing equipment on my face, so I just had to wait it out," she said.
The ordeal left Mandy feeling very vulnerable, yet she considered herself "one of the lucky ones".
Logan resident Mickey* was also left without support workers during the floods.
"My mum did manage to find an alternative support worker for a one-off, however we only had her for one shift," she said.
Due to Mickey's autism, she found the change of support workers and the "sensory overload" of the loud storms all too overwhelming.
"[The support worker] did stay in contact with me via phone though during their shift.
"However, this stopped once they lost power and phone signal due to the floods."
Mickey said she endured many sleepless nights while feeling very anxious about the storms and being cut off from vital support.
Evacuation centres out of reach
When Uncle Willie Prince, an Indigenous elder who also has cerebral palsy, lost power at his West End home from the floods, he knew he had to act fast.
"I rang one of my support workers who lives nearby me, and they came out to assist me," he said.
During the height of the storm, Mr Prince was unable to reach any local evacuation centres and instead had to seek emergency accommodation in a hotel.
"We found a hotel nearby in West End, and we drove up there, and we asked if they had any vacancies, and they said, 'Not at the moment'."
The hotel offered them a room after Mr Prince's support worker explained their predicament.
But the following day, the floodwaters were outside the hotel, and Mr Prince had to evacuate again.
"This time, I got really caught unprepared," he said.
Mr Prince said he was very grateful for his support worker, who stayed with him for the five days he was away from home.
People 'had to communicate amongst themselves'
Paralympian and People with a Disability Australia board director Marayke Jonkers wants to see a system in place to coordinate support and services to people during emergency events.
"People in crisis don't have the bandwidth or the electricity to be scrolling the internet in the hope that someone's going to reply 'Yes' to that call out."
Ms Jonkers is well aware of the importance of having access to support workers during emergencies — she was also caught in Brisbane's rising floodwaters.
She lives on the Sunshine Coast but was in Brisbane for a medical appointment when she was told to evacuate.
"We were getting bangs on the door saying, 'If you guys want to get out before everything goes under, you got to get out'," Ms Jonkers said.
"[My support worker] made sure me, my dog and my important technology got into a vehicle and got to safety, and then to home in a hell of a hurry."
Ms Jonkers said she was very grateful for the invaluable help of her support worker.
Displaced for months
After the devastating 2017 Lismore flood, people with disabilities took longer to recover and required long-term support, a study by the University Centre for Rural Health found.
Lismore research fellow Jodie Bailie said people with disabilities and their support workers are more likely to have their houses flooded and be displaced six months after the event.
"We really need to make sure that our recovery efforts are here for the long term," she said.
Ms Bailie was not directly impacted by the floods but has seen the enormous disruption and the flow-on impact on access to support and services.
Her daughter Alice Misty, who has a disability, had her support network and workplace impacted by the recent floods in northern NSW.
Ms Bailie said if governments did not prepare better for emergency events in high-risk areas it would create "compounding trauma" for people with disabilities.
"[We need] greater investment in preparedness, and this is amplified in areas where disasters are likely to occur again and where the most socio-economically marginalised populations reside," she said.
*Names changed for privacy
