Looking relieved to take a break from packing, Warmun Art gallery managers Maggie and Gary Fletcher gaze from their kitchen table, in the upper floor of the oldest house in Warmun, over the Kimberley savannah they have called home for the past two-and-a-half years.

As they prepare to say their goodbyes to the area, they reflect on their time there, and particularly on the flash flood that rendered the remote Aboriginal community unliveable and changed the context of their roles as managers of the town’s renowned art work.

When at the end of a record wet season in the East Kimberley torrents of flowed over Warmun, pummelling its infrastructure and terrifying its residents, the flood washed ochre paintings worth $1 million down the rapids that swelled over Turkey Creek.

In the nine months since, the Fletchers, like the rest of the community, have been consumed by the need to rebuild Warmun and, for them, its art centre. After months of sending and resending insurance forms then arranging builders and supplies, the Warmun Art building is nearly complete.

Finishing touches were last week being made to the rebuilt gallery and with the job done, the couple were preparing to leave Warmun and return to Adelaide to be with their soon to be grandchild.

Back in the kitchen, the couple reflected on the despair and exhaustion of the flood, the fear of more floods this year, and their mixed feelings about leaving the art centre as it returns to its former glory. “It’s mixed feelings, we have a grandchild coming,” Mrs Fletcher said.

“We probably would have stayed to more of a settled point because there is a lot of things that are going to be really hard to pass on, but the baby is due in January.

“People have started to come around and say goodbye, making us presents.

“We feel like family now. I think the flood, we all went through this together, it is a pretty special bond.”

“People are really getting the idea that it’s their art centre, we are part of a team … it’s much more of a family, team thing.”

The new buildings include a second-storey wet season storage facility, changes to the placement of electricity and air-conditioners and new elevated accommodation.