Fury over woeful state of Bruce Highway after flood closures
Rainfalls of up to 1m have played havoc on highways and railways with the fallout reaching supermarket shelves. The state opposition leader says the Bruce Hwy’s condition is‘absolutely farcical’.
QLD weather news
Don't miss out on the headlines from QLD weather news. Followed categories will be added to My News.
Customers are being asked to go “mindful” on groceries as supermarkets tackle shortages in the fallout of widespread flooding across North and Central Queensland.
Woolworths Queensland operations manager Gary O’Donnell said road and rail closures had interrupted regular delivery schedules affecting product supplies, particularly in their Mackay, Townsville, Bowen and Cairns stores.
“This means we are now having to unpack cargo trains to get the stock to put on trucks to get where they need to go,” Mr O’Donnell said.
“We’ve now got multiple truckloads of stock on the way to support these communities, with more to come.”
He said team members were working extra hours to keep stores running, restock shelves and support their local communities.
“As always, we ask customers to be mindful of others in the community and buy only what they need,” Mr O’DOnnel said.
“At this stage, there are no purchase limits for any stores in the region, however we’ll be keeping a close eye on this in the next few days as this weather continues.”
BRUCE HIGHWAY IS ‘ABSOLUTELY FARCICAL’: CRISAFULLI
State opposition leader David Crisafulli has slammed the government for the “absolutely farcical” state of the Bruce Highway following more than 1000m of rain lashing the region over the past week.
Speaking in Mackay with Whitsunday MP Amanda Camm, Mr Crisafulli said authorities must invest in regional infrastructure rather than just repair.
“You can’t have hundreds of thousands of people at the mercy of one road that can be flooded for days,’’ Mr Crisafulli said.
“It’s not just a road, it’s a lifeblood. It supplies people with medicine, food, employment, and their way of life.
“Time and time again, we see the same bits of infrastructure to the same standard and somehow we expect a different result.
“That is the definition of insanity.
“Let’s use this as an opportunity to build more resilience into infrastructure.”
Many in Ms Camm’s electorate were cut off by floods she says are exacerbated by regional Queensland’s poor infrastructure that was “not up to scratch”.
“We’re used to this weather in North Queensland,” Ms Camm said.
“We know we can handle this weather.
“But we need decision makers and, in particular, the government to step up.
“(And) ensure that long-term planning is built with resilience and capacity to withstand some of these weather events.”
Both commended the community’s “excellent” response with Mr Crisafulli thanking people for heeding warnings and doing the right thing.
BRUCE HIGHWAY, AIRPORT RE-OPENS
The Bruce Highway in North Queensland has reopened to thoroughfare traffic after it was cut off for two-and-a-half days.
Whitsunday Regional Council Mayor Julie Hall said Queensland police managed to clear the B-double truck that had become submerged at Lethebrook south of Proserpine late Tuesday.
“The road crew went out this morning and made sure that the potholes and that the road was safe enough for people to travel on,” Ms Hall said.
The highway at Bowen was also officially reopened, with the hundreds of travellers who were stuck in Proserpine allowed to leave first to prevent a bottleneck.
Ms Hall revealed some impatient southbound drivers had taken it upon themselves to remove the road closed signs at Home Hill, creating “angst among others waiting to travel north.
She said it was “disappointing” as road crews were trying to make the road safe with emergency repairs.
Ms Hall said the Whitsunday Airport, which had suspended flights for days, is expecting its first flight at 12.40pm.
Teams across the Whitsundays, the Mackay region, and Isaac, are now busily assessing damage to trunk infrastructure as well as local roads after emergency crews spent the past few days making emergency repairs to potholes and clearing debris and landslides.
MOTORISTS FACE METRE-WIDE POTHOLES
Dangerous potholes pockmark the Bruce Highway from about Koumala south of Mackay north to Bowen.
Some were more than a metre wide with the hazards so close together any vehicles other than four-wheel-drives were risking serious damage, as multiple drivers found out with blown tyres and buckled axis’.
Mackay Regional Council Mayor Greg Williamson said despite the region receiving more than a metre’s rain and the hilltop town of Eungella being isolated after a landslide with boulders littered the range, it was not enough to declare a disaster situation.
“It’s an event, the state (government) has already done that (declaration) and we’re eligible for recovery money,” Mr Williamson said. “We pressed for the closure of it (the range) and thank god we did. “There’s been some significant slips up there.”
He said a meeting would take place on Wednesday morning to assess a game plan for the Eungella Range with the council’s priority to tackle how to meet the town’s need for “normal daily supplies”.
“The forecast for the road opening, that might be a number of days … we don’t know,” Mr Williamson said.
“It’s going to be a difficult reconstruction job.”
He said they were expecting most roads to comb back online “very quickly” as the system weakens and delivers lighter rainfalls.
Mr Williamson said Acting Premier Steven Miles had an opportunity to witness the flood damage on the ground when he visited Mackay on Tuesday.
It is unknown whether Mr Miles’ itinerary included observing the Bruce Highway.
PUSH TO FLOOD-PROOF BRUCE HIGHWAY
Scores of Central and North Queensland residents, as well as truck drivers who rely on the vital infrastructure, have for decades lamented the condition of the Bruce with its infamy for going underwater and isolating towns for long periods of time during rain events.
Mr Williamson said it was nicknamed the “goat track” north of Gympie although this had slightly improved in recent years.
“That’s our problem in regional Queensland; lots and lots of the state’s money is spent in South East Queensland,” he said.
“We’ve just got to keep banging the drum really hard all the time … we need on the floor of parliament, we need people to actually take up the call about regional Queensland.
“I can remember back in the ‘70s when we had the inland road back to Rockhampton – hundreds of cars stuck between Prospect Creek and Funnel Creek.
“(Travellers stuck) has been going on for a very long time.”
PEAK DOWNS HIGHWAY ALSO CUT OFF
Another highway, which services the mining industry helping to fill the state’s coffers, was cut off at several points over the past few days.
The Peak Downs Highway starts in Mackay and proceeds into the Isaac region.
Isaac Regional Council Mayor Anne Baker said the area had received an “extraordinary amount of rain” impacting “well over” 100 roads.
“The prediction is the rain will continue through until at least Thursday,” Mrs Baker said.
“If you don’t need to be travelling and on the roads, please don’t.
“If you do, please be cautious and be mindful of what’s going on around you.”
Both Ms Hall and Mr Williamson praised their communities and crews for how they handled the weather event.
“I just can’t thank the community enough for their support for dropping off blankets and really helping out and stepping up for those who were stranded,” Ms Hall said.
“Everyone at both the evacuation centres (at Proserpine and Bowen) were really, really happy.”
Mr Williamson said they would continue to monitor river and creek levels, adding no rain-related calls were made to Triple-0 during the event.
For the latest on road closures, visit the Mackay, Isaac, Whitsunday, and Central Highlands’ Emergency Dashboards.
SWIFTWATER TEAMS RESCUE TRAPPED MOTORIST
Swiftwater crews had to rescue a man trapped in his submerged vehicle after driving into floodwaters north of Bowen overnight.
The emergency call came in about 8.10pm from the Bruce Highway at the Slater Creek Bridge at Gumlu.
"A person was stuck in the vehicle … couldn't get out of the car," a Queensland Fire and Rescue Service spokeswoman said.
"Water was over the bonnet and in the vehicle."
Six swiftwater rescue crews responded with the first arriving at 8.20pm, she said.
By about 8.30pm the man was out of the vehicle. He was uninjured and did not need transport to hospital.
This came after the Department of Transport and Main Roads posted on social media at 6.13pm Tuesday the Bruce Highway between Proserpine and Home Hill was open.
Although the severe weather warning for Mackay and the Whitsundays has been cancelled, rain is expected to continue on Wednesday and into Thursday with heavy rainfall still possible over coastal areas between Ayr and St Lawrence.
A minor flood warning remains in place for the Pioneer River, while there is a flood watch for the Don and Proserpine Rivers.
Catchments across the flood watch area are wet to saturated from recent rainfall and are likely to respond relatively quickly to further rainfall.
Mackay is facing a hot and steamy day as it begins to assess the damage of flooding with a relative humidity of 97 per cent.
The chance of rain remains at 80 per cent with more showers on Thursday.
The maximum temperature is expected to be 29, four degrees higher than Tuesday.
However it is expected to return to sunny conditions on Thursday and be mostly sunny through Friday and Saturday.
NEW BABY’S DRAMATIC ARRIVAL IN FLOOD
After six days of punishing rainfall and storms across North Queensland, a ray of light has arrived with a baby born to first-time parents in a mountain town isolated by mud and rockslides.
Dad Dean Gajda was “speechless” at the sight of her.
“I was bawling my eyes out,” he said.
“As soon as I saw her (Hayley) on Angel’s chest, I could not stop smiling.”
Dean and his partner Angel McKay were to travel Mackay for Hayley’s birth but their hometown of Eungella, about an hour’s drive away, was blockaded with boulders and fallen trees.
On Tuesday, Hayley started her journey into the world.
“There was no way to put it off, we knew she was coming today,” Angel said.
With no way down the mountain, they tried getting a helicopter flight to hospital but the dangerous weather had grounded that idea.
Thankfully, help soon arrived with some neighbours and the Queensland Ambulance Service.
Retired doctor Beryl Turner, Dr Emma Sedlacek and nurse Sue Vetma helped Angel through labour while rural fire officer Ian Smith offered his personal home as a birthplace.
The new parents live at nearby Crediton, about 12km from Eungella’s township.
“Our local fireys were the ones who came out to get myself and my partner (Dean),” Angel said.
“They cleared roadways to get the doctor here so I had at least some kind of medical personnel in case something did go wrong.
“It was definitely a scary experience.”
But the birth went smoothly and quickly and Hayley let out her first cry at 9.44am, weighing 3kg.
For Dean, Hayley will grow up in the “greatest community you could think of”.
The town’s residents are jubilant and Angel said many were lining up for “baby cuddles”.
“I am extremely grateful for the Eungella community,” she said.
“It is definitely a story to tell her when she’s (Hayley) older.”
The dramatic birth comes as the entire region has been battered with constant rain, smashing records and isolating towns, locals and tourists.
The Bruce Highway was closed in dozens of locations, with a drone image of a B-double trapped in rising flood waters revealing the severity of the situation on the main arterial.
Emergency crews, including swiftwater teams, were called to the Bruce Highway just south of Proserpine at 2.43am on Monday where the truck became caught on the flooded highway.
It is understood a Holden Barina was also washed away in the torrential rain that has drenched the region after the driver ignored warning signs. Ten vehicles became trapped on higher ground between two creeks in the same area.
Another 100mm is expected, with some isolated pockets expected to cop as much as 200mm, but weather experts say conditions will start to improve from Wednesday afternoon.
Flood waters will take time to recede and isolated storms are possible for the Whitsundays region on Wednesday or Thursday.
At Proserpine Airport 678mm fell in the 72 hours to 9am on Tuesday – the highest total in 42 years of record-keeping. A 23-year record was broken at Finch Hatton, with 791mm falling over the period.
Senior Bureau of Meteorology forecaster Harry Clark said “significant totals” had been recorded across the Central Coast and Whitsundays region. “In the general strip between Bowen down to Camila we’ve seen roughly around 150mm to 200mm over the last 24 hours,” he said.
“This comes on top of numerous days of 200mm-plus falls in previous days.
“So it’s certainly a very significant rainfall event …”
More Coverage
Originally published as Fury over woeful state of Bruce Highway after flood closures
Join the conversation
Severe weather warnings continue after supercell storms smash SEQ
Brisbane, Moreton Bay and parts of Wide Bay are in the firing line for more severe weather this evening after the South East was smashed with supercell storms leaving 1000-plus without power.
Read more
Wild hailstorm slams into Sunshine Coast, warning active
A severe storm warning has been issued for areas of north of Brisbane with large hail and damaging winds likely. Hail has been recorded across the Sunshine Coast.
Read more