A GROUP of chopper pilots in central Queensland spent an April weekend flying supplies to stranded residents around the Isaac region in the aftermath of ex-Tropical Cyclone Debbie.
With all eyes on the pending flood situation in Rockhampton and evacuations in northern New South Wales, those left in the the trail of destruction around St Lawrence, Lotus Creek and Clarke Creek thought they had been forgotten.
After receiving Facebook messages about the need for assistance, AgForce’s central regional manager, Sharon Howard, and Collin and Krystal Beath began organising supplies and helicopters to access the areas.
Ms Howard said the damage was heartbreaking to see.
She said many animals had been moved to paddocks previously safe from floods but this event was worse than anyone could have predicted.
She said one particular family they visited, Graham Clements, Leonie Stanley and Cody Clements, endured a traumatising night as flood waters rose inside their Daecey home.
“We went to Daecey (near St Lawrence) and there was a couple there and their 31-year-old son and they got hammered and spent the night on the kitchen table...the dogs drowned on the chain because they couldn’t get to them, the horses and cattle washed past them,” she said.
“When we arrived they were still shell shocked, they were completely lost.
“They didn’t know what day it was, what they had to do and where to start.
“We did a lot of cuddling and crying.
“It was more than the food, they were just going, ‘Oh my goodness, someone knows we are here’.”
Action Helicopters owner, Cody Ford, provided his helicopters for the fly overs and said it was the Australian thing to do.
Pilot Russell Pitt said a lot of people were just happy to see visitors.
“Some places were fine and you would fly along and drop in on some people and it wasn't hard to see they were doing fine,” he said.
“Even if they have lost stock at least their buildings didn't go under and they had a generator on. Full story and more pictures here.
Lotus Creek devastation
LOTUS Creek resident Sandy Petrie lost everything; his dogs, his birds, his car, his shop and all his belongings. All he had left was the clothes on his back.
For the last 35 years he had provided food, fuel and accommodation along the Marlborough-Sarina Road.
But in early April he was forced to sit in the top level of his house for 12 hours and watch everything he had worked so hard to achieve, wash away.
As ex-Tropical Cylone Debbie lashed north Queensland, somewhere upstream of the Lotus Creek rest stop the banks had been broken.
Noticing the water rising, Mr Petrie placed his two German Shepherds in his car as he walked back in ankle deep water to turn the generator off.
Minutes later he returned in waste deep water but his car had been swept away.
For his own safety he swam back to his home beside the shop and sat upstairs with only his mobile phone. Full story and more pictures here.
Yaraka toasted mobile phone access
The tiny western Queensland town of Yaraka could have been trending on social media on a Friday night in April, after equipment on the newly-installed mobile phone tower was turned on for the first time.
Locals and visitors took advantage of the opportunity to share the excitement on their phones.
It had been a long time coming – an announcement of black spot funding followed closely on the heels of a visit by then-Communications Minister, Malcolm Turnbull, in 2015.
Relive the excitement of Sally Cripps’ story here.
Toobeah farmers claim ‘illegal’ flood
In 2016, Toobeah farmers Bruce Lamey and his son Chris lost a $1.4 million chickpea crop. In April this year, it looked like their $250,000 cotton crop would also be a write-off.
The Lameys recognised the risk of farming of a floodplain but claim these longer-lasting flood events were the direct result of illegal structures being deliberately constructed by irrigators to harvest water.
They say the ingeniously designed earthworks are being used to control and stall the movement of floodwaters across the landscape.
The then-backed up overland flow is being pumped in massive earth storage tanks and later used to grow cotton.
The problem for the Lameys is that the artificial sea of water has created prolonged flooding across much of their 2000 hectare dryland farming property, Coomonga, including their access road.
“The system has failed us,” Bruce Lamey said.
“No-one in Queensland should have the power to turn illegal structures into legal structures. It seems that under the government’s self assessment rules, irrigators can put earthworks up and then ask the governing body for approval after it’s done. But even if it's illegal it seems no-one has the power to actually make them pull them down.We all understand that it floods as part of the natural system. But the flood water should be allowed to escape in reasonable time and be available to everyone else on the river system.”
The Lameys were particularly critical of a gravel-topped road that had been constructed well above the surface of the floodplain.
“The road may be used by vehicles but it is really a very effective, and we think illegal, levy,” Bruce said.
Next door at Glentown it’s a very different story. Richard Donovan and his son Rick’s 4200ha property is in the grips of an extreme drought because, they claimed to have been denied beneficial floodwater because of the earthworks done on nearby properties. Read the full story from Mark Phelps here.
Stacey nurtures and delivers
Like most agricultural business, Westview Garden Seedlings, situated at Wyreema on Toowoomba’s outskirts, is a seven-day-a-week operation.
Managing director, Stacey Hamblin, is passionate about her business and the valuable services she provides to farmers.
QCL visited Stacey in April as part of our popular Food Heroes series. Westview Garden Seedlings produces 15 million seedlings annually, servicing vegetable growers in south east Queensland.
“Our farmers order their varieties of vegetable seedlings, along with the number of seedlings they require, and an expected delivery date,” Stacey said.
Once the orders are placed, Westview Garden Seedlings sources the seed from seed companies from all over the world.
“We plant the seeds into 198 or 240 cell seedling trays using a Williams Automatic seeding line. The soil mix we use is a mixture of peat moss and vermiculite,” Stacey said. Read Helen Walker’s full story on Westview Garden Seedlings.
Electoral boundary quandaries
When objections to proposed new state electoral boundaries closed at the end of March, the plan to move some of the Western Downs local government area, Chinchilla and Miles, to Callide, had received 178 objections.
There was also disappointment at the abolition of Dalrymple and the increase in the size of the new Traeger electorate.
The changes outlined by Sally Cripps in her story came into play in the November 25 state election.
Pasture dieback in the spotlight
AFTER QCL published a number of stories of producer’s battling pasture dieback, MLA announced an action plan saying they were treating the issues as the “equivalent of an animal disease outbreak”. Research has since been conducted with early indications pointing to a fungus as a possible cause but the final result won’t been known for another three to six months. Latest story here.
Lincoln’s big win
TOPX young gun Lincoln McKinlay returned from the national finals of the ALPA Young Auctioneer competition a winner after taking out the top spot.
Lincoln headed in as the underdog as the second-place getter from Queensland, but blew away the competition to win his place as the national champion.
He went on to compete in Calgary, Canada, where he won a rookie title. Full story on the Nationals here.
