Tasmanian family remember 'loving father and grandfather' who drowned in floodwaters

The Scottsdale man tragically drowned during last year’s devastating floods in northern Tasmania.

The 63-year-old was delivering newspapers when he accidentally drove his van into floodwaters at Evandale.

Climbing onto the roof of the car, the father-of-five used his last moments to call his family.

“He was scared,” his son Corey Watson said last year.

“His biggest thing was to say how much he loved his family.

“He said he’d watch over us always.”

About an hour later, he was gone – swept away by floodwaters before a helicopter could rescue him.

Forced to spend his birthday without his dad on Monday, Corey Watson said the family was still taking it “one day at a time”.

“It’s hard … the last time I saw him was my birthday last year,” he said.

“We have our days, we all look out for each other and the rest of the family and our friends are always there to give us a hand if we are struggling.”

Mr Watson’s family will pay tribute to him on Tuesday, one year after his disappearance.

“We spread his ashes out from the top of the Sideling so we will go there and catch up and just do our own thing as a family.”

The family took the opportunity to again thank the emergency service personnel who worked to try and save Mr Watson.

“We just want to say another thanks to the SES and Westpac choppers and the hundreds of volunteers who helped.

“We also want to give our sympathies to the other families who lost someone.”

The disaster saw two other people killed in the state.

Ouse farmer Trevor Foster was swept away from his home, but the 81-year-old’s body was never found.

Latrobe woman Mary Allford died after flood waters inundated her home.