Emergency Services Minister Visits Flooded North West

Emergency Services Minister Neil Roberts has today flown to Normanton in the state’s north west, to inspect flood preparations ahead of the Norman River’s expected peak of 6.8 metres tomorrow.

Mr Roberts, who was joined on the inspection by Member for Mount Isa Betty Kiernan, said the river’s rise had the potential to keep the township isolated for another six weeks.

“Normanton and Karumba have already been isolated for the past four weeks, after tropical cyclone Charlotte crossed the coast in the area in January,” Mr Roberts said.

“The Member for Mount Isa has been giving me regular updates on the situation, and as I was already in Townsville for community cabinet, I am taking this opportunity to visit the area and get the latest information from the Local Disaster Management Group (LDMG) and Emergency Management Queensland (EMQ) officers on the ground,” he said.

Mr Roberts said EMQ had been re-supplying the town with essential supplies with a fortnightly barge from Cairns.

“I will take the advice of the people on the ground as to what else can be done to assist the community to deal with what are very trying conditions,” he said.

Mr Roberts praised the efforts of all Local Disaster Management Groups, council workers, police, State Emergency Service (SES) volunteers, and EMQ staff across north Queensland, for their handling of the flood situation following cyclone Charlotte and Ellie.

“Rainfall of between 200-300 millimetres has fallen in the Cairns to Mackay region since tropical cyclone Ellie crossed the coast in the very early hours of Monday morning, and it has recharged already flooded rivers,” he said.

“In addition to the watching brief at Normanton, EMQ has been keeping a close eye on Ingham, where the Herbert River peaked at around 12.2 metres in the early hours of this morning, the third highest level in the town’s history.

“The practical effect of that was around 1000 homes had external inundation, while 20 homes had internal inundation of 1-1.5 metres.

“The Ingham LDMG led by Mayor Pino Giandomenico, and local SES did a great job in the lead up to the flood peak, doorknocking homes that would have water inundation to some level.

“An inspection of the Ingham township and surrounding areas was undertaken this morning at first light by flood boat, to ascertain the full extent of the damage,” he said.

Mr Roberts said the SES had received more than 50 calls for assistance from the Ingham area overnight, taking the total number of calls received in the past 48 hours, from the Cairns to Mackay region, to around 170.

He said modelling prepared by the Bureau of Meteorology showed the remnants of ex-tropical cyclone Ellie had the potential to move back out to sea, but was not expected to reform into a cyclone.

“However, as north Queensland locals will tell you, cyclones are volatile and it’s hard to predict their development or movement, so the best advice is to simply listen to weather reports and follow the advice provided by the bureau,” he said.

Mrs Kiernan said she was delighted the Emergency Services Minister had made the effort to visit the north west region, to get a first hand look at the flooding.

“In the past 24 hours, around 15 homes in the Normanton area had been evacuated as a precaution, and furniture had either been moved up or out of homes in preparation for the floodwater,” Mrs Kiernan said.

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