AU – Cyclone Marcia Hits QLD

With Cyclone Marcia bearing down on Queensland, RRT started to do some planning for the disaster that may be ahead. The Queensland trailer was already in Bundaberg, which was a high-risk area, and the decision was made to bring the New England trailer up from NSW to Gympie, now at an increasing risk of river flooding.

At the same time, the danger had passed Bundaberg but the remnants of the cyclone, now a low-pressure system was dumping a large amount of rain further south. A decision was made to move the Queensland trailer south to Brisbane on Saturday morning, where there was flash flooding, road closures and water inundation into homes.

Before the trailer had arrived a call came from SES Depot Salisbury. Their teams, who had been working 12 hour shifts had been deployed for three days and were living on takeaways. Brisbane RRT rushed to provide an evening meal for over 35 hungry SES workers who were very appreciative to receive something substantial!

Brisbane RRT then went on to provide 50 lunch packs to SES Newmarket on Monday morning. As the workload in Brisbane decreased, a convoy of 10 vehicles with 50 SES team members were being re-deployed to Rockhampton to assist with the massive recovery efforts there. With a 10-12 hour drive ahead, the SES was glad of a substantial lunch pack to break the journey.