Closure is a dirty word in Grantham.
A second inquiry into Queensland's devastating January 10, 2011 flood has just been completed; this one focusing on the raging torrent that swept through the small southeast Queensland town and claimed 12 lives.
But for those who survived the terrifying event and those who lost loved ones on that fateful day, their memories will stay with them forever.
The Grantham Flood Commission of Inquiry's 236-page report handed down this week contained no recommendations on how a similar tragedy could be prevented.
According to Commissioner Walter Sofronoff QC, there was no need.
No one was to blame. Nothing could have been done to stop it.
It might not seem like a satisfying conclusion for residents but the five-week inquiry preceding the report gave residents something they had longed for for years: a chance to be heard.
The cathartic effect of the $2.5 million inquiry has helped a community that had lost so much in a freak act of nature to heal.
It has helped. It hasn't provided "closure".
"I don't like the term closure," former Grantham resident Marty Warburton told AAP.
"For me, it's about trying to come to terms with what happened on that day."
Mr Warburton, who was forced to watch helplessly from a rooftop as people were washed away in raging floodwaters, best described at the time as an inland tsunami, said the inquiry helped residents process the tragedy and understand how it happened.
But neither it, nor anything else, could make them completely forget the terror of that day.
"I struggle going into Grantham now and that'll never change - that'll always be with me," he said.
"I have days where there's certain triggers that bring back memories really vividly - images, sounds and smells."
Residents campaigned for the inquiry because they felt a broader probe in 2012 ignored their concerns that a quarry embankment wall caused a deadly wall of water to wash over their town.
Mr Warburton said most residents were happy to "accept the umpire's call" in Mr Sofronoff's report that found the quarry wasn't to blame.
But there were still some residents who lived near the quarry who remained convinced it did increase damage to their properties.
Denis Wagner, the multi-millionaire businessman whose family owned the quarry at the time of the flood, transformed from villain to victim as it became clearer during the inquiry that the quarry had no impact.
Mr Wagner spent about $1 million defending himself and his company from accusations he knew were false all along, but even he conceded the inquiry was beneficial.
"The inquiry has given many people in Grantham the opportunity to tell their story and some of those stories have been very inspirational. So from that aspect I think the inquiry has been a good thing," he told AAP.
Mr Sofronoff was unapologetic for his report's lack of recommendations, insisting the disaster was essentially an act of God.
But that didn't mean it was a waste of money, he insisted.
Nor did it mean residents should move on.
"I really hate it when people say `it's time to move on'," Mr Sofronoff said after a journalist used the term.
"There are people there who will never recover.
"If the crisis cuts you deep enough, you never get over it and this was really the most shocking thing I've ever been involved in looking at in 34 years of practice."
The region's mayor, Steve Jones, expects the disaster to be etched in the community's psyche forever.
"The tragic nature of what happened means there will be some people who will be permanently scarred," Mr Jones said.
"In fact, anyone who was in the guts of it on that particular night will be scarred forever - their lives really changed on that day."
That's why Mr Jones considered the inquiry important - it was a stepping stone for distraught residents towards recovery.
But the inquiry's hefty price tag and the fact it offered no recommendations meant it would have its critics.
Lockyer MP Ian Rickuss said the probe added nothing new to the broader Queensland Floods Commission of Inquiry's findings of 2012.
"Unfortunately, there will be millions of dollars wasted now that would be better put back into the community building (flood) resilience," Mr Rickuss said.
Mr Warburton said that view was understandable - from people who weren't forced to tread water as the ceiling closed in on them fearing each breath they took might be their last.
"I guarantee that those who are making those comments have never been through anything like that," Mr Warburton said.
"I pray they don't but if they do I guarantee their opinion will change."
The Grantham flood is unlikely to be dissected and discussed in a court room again. But it will play over in locals' minds for years to come.
