Warwick floods: Residents left stranded as ageing roads crumble under intense rain

Receding floodwaters have started to reveal the extent of the damage to roads in Warwick and the region, with the significant amount set to stack on top of a $9m – $11m repair bill dating back to 2020.

Intense flooding in Warwick and the wider region has left residents battling closures and significant damage to hundreds of already deteriorating roads across the Southern Downs.

The Condamine River at Warwick surged to a peak height of 6.26m on Wednesday, inundating the surrounding parks and cutting off dozens of busy roads and intersections in town.

More than 70 roads remain closed across the region due to flooding and hazards, with the most affected areas from Karara through to Warwick and Killarney.

Emu Vale resident Janice Felsch said the week’s huge rainfall totals have only compounded the pre-existing deterioration of Tucker Road, with the huge holes and unstable ground making it impossible for her to leave her home on her own.

She said the rural and unsealed road had always been used as a shortcut to Yangan or Killarney for trucks and farm machinery, but was now blocked off indefinitely and forcing nearby residents to take an alternative route home.

“We’ve been having a bit of trouble with it for the past few years, but this time it’s a bit too much,” she said.

“It was like a raging river coming down the road and when it rains, the sides of the road sort of give way, it only takes someone to walk on it.

“In a four-wheel-drive you could make it out, but I’ve just got a little car and wouldn’t even attempt to do that. You can’t stop the erosion once it starts.”

Ms Felsch said the road had only been patched up by Southern Downs Regional Council within the past year, but it was now likely to need a more long-term solution.

“The council did a fair bit of work to it and it was marvellous, but I think they might have taken a bit too much dirt off it and it’s just been washed away again with the rain,” she said.

“I think we really need to have an engineer come out and properly assess what needs to be done to the road and where the faults are, because you’ve got to think of the safety of people.

“You’ve got to wait your turn, it all depends on what other work they’ve got to do, but it really needs fixing up properly instead of being a bandaid.”

The strain of the region’s ageing road network has only been exacerbated by the past month’s intense rainfall.

Goomburra resident Lyla V Edwards wrote on social media that the town’s roads were becoming increasingly riddled with potholes and rocks, especially with the influx of campers and tourists to the area.

“You give permits to have thousands of campers come out here, our roads can’t handle (it), but then us locals have to suffer driving on a road that’s not fit for this much traffic,” she said.

“There’s parts of this road you have no choice but to drive through, massive potholes to get home. I’ve had enough, it’s costing me.”

This week’s major flood event is the third to batter the Southern Downs in less than two years, with the council still scrambling to repair the damage left behind in March and earlier in February last year.

SDRC’s November infrastructure report revealed some 2020 funding approvals were being combined with those from March due to overlapping damage, with only seven months left to complete all works from last year.

It said the combined repair bills prior to this week were estimated to be $9 million – $11 million, covered by the Queensland Reconstruction Authority.

For the full list of current road closures across the region, click here.