ROSEWOOD Auxiliary Fire Brigade Captain Trevor Meier returned home on Monday after 10 days on the ground in flood ravaged north Queensland.
Relentless rain and rising flood waters have destroyed homes and forced hundreds of people into evacuation centres in communities from Cairns through to Mackay.
The size and scale of the event required all levels of government to support the response.
Cpt Meier also works full time for the Queensland Fire Department in Bundamba.
“I travelled to north Queensland as part of a swift water motorised craft strike team,” he said.
“Four vehicles travelled up with four full crews.
“We took a Motorised Swiftwater Rescue Craft (MSRC) and an inflatable work platform with us that is able to cope with shallow or deep swift water.”
The crew headed straight to Townsville.
“We had a rescue at Cape Cleveland of an 80-year-old lady,” he said.
“There’d been an inundation at her residence.
“We took the boat to her and transported her to high ground and into the hands of [Queensland Ambulance Service].
“We were then notified the crossing bridge near Charters Towers was about to go under and no teams had been sent up yet.”
Two craft and four team members went to Charters Towers and were there for nine days.
“When we arrived at the bridge it had just been closed but water wasn’t completely over it,” he said.
“We were able to access Charters Towers and that’s where we were based.
“We had help from the local fire and rescue crews.
“They also gave guidance with what routes to get to certain places when roads were cut off.”
There were two focal points for the swift water rescue team, the Burdekin River and Hann River.
“We had about 20 relocations of people stuck on the other side of the Hann River and that included some elderly residents and a two-month-old baby,” he said.
“We also did food, water and medication drops to people who’d been stuck for days.”
There was severe and major flooding on all sides of the town.
The crew needed to stay on top of information, keeping track of which roads and bridges were open and when bridges were able to be crossed.
“The crossing bridge went under and went back down again three separate times while we were there. It was the same with the Hann River,” he said.
“We did a rescue at Belyando Crossing about 200 kilometres from Charters Towers.
“The gentleman was on top of his ute, he’d been washed off a crossing while inside his vehicle.
“His ute was up against some trees and we used the motorised craft to access and rescue him.”
The crew participated in more than 20 evacuations over their 10 days on the ground.
Cpt Meier arrived back home on Monday by plane.
However, the equipment, rescue vehicle and craft were all left behind for others to use.
“We’ll go back there next week to get them if the local providers can’t get them down to us,” he said.
“The logistics surrounding an event like this are just incredible.
“We have tremendous support within our organisation to ensure that all the resources we have on hand are there when we need them.”
Co-ordinator-General for National Emergency Management Brendan Moon said on Friday that recovery was going to be long, arduous and complex.
“As we get access to isolated communities, it’s about reconnecting those communities to those elements of their lives that allow them to function,” he said.
“Right now, that’s our focus and what’s unfolding.
“We are focusing on supply chains of water and power to north Queensland.”
