In January 2011, flooding of historic proportions hit the Australian city of Brisbane causing one death. Understanding the decisions made on dam operation in response to intense rainfall is crucial for preventing such disasters or at least, minimising risk in the future. This article reports on an analysis of 345 legal transcripts conducted during the Queensland Floods Commission of Inquiry (QFCI) revealing a subjective process of decision-making, akin to bricolage, with a distinctly complex and emergent quality to the formation of mitigation strategies during one of the city’s worst natural disasters on record. The main contribution of this article is how complexity theory, uniquely connected to the concept of emergent strategy formation, can be applied to complex disaster situations. There has been limited research on how problems require a flexible and adaptable process to manage the cascading patterns of emergent crises. The article proposes future research related to understanding emergent patterns and the management of complexity in organisations.