Brisbane, NSW floods 2022: Mick Fanning, Joel Parkinson, Bede Durbidge to the rescue

Some of the world’s top surfing names sprang into action as floods gripped Queensland and northern NSW. COURAGE UNDER WATER EPISODE 2

They were just “a bunch of surfers on jet skis and a bunch of mums in a warehouse”.

But together, they created a “huge civilian army” who became heroes on the 2022 flood battleground.

Gold Coast surf stars including Mick Fanning, Joel Parkinson and Bede Durbidge were part of a massive relief effort that became one of the few feel-good stories of the devastating floods.

Surfers on a flotilla of jet skis spent long and dangerous days delivering emergency supplies to stricken residents in flood-smashed northern NSW, as their wives and girlfriends worked around the clock in a Currumbin warehouse co-ordinating the military-style operation.

They stepped in amid increasing desperation among flood victims and growing anger at a lack of help from authorities.

Durbidge said he became involved after Parkinson, the 2012 world champion who had spent a day rescuing flood victims on the Tweed, sent out a text on a surfer group chat pleading for help.

“Parko just went, ‘it’s getting crazy down here on the Tweed – people are getting flooded and they need rescuing,” he said.

“We kind of created this huge civilian army. Everyone just dropped their own things … and just went to work with what we could do in that crazy situation.”

Coast business owners Ben and Renee Honey offered their Currumbin warehouse as a drop-off and distribution point, using social media to rally public donations and volunteer drivers to take food and supplies to a Tweed boat ramp for delivery to flood victims by jet ski.

Mick Fanning gives Skye Swift a lift on his jet ski during the northern NSW floods

“We were all just willing to help I guess – a bunch of surfers on some jet skis and a bunch of mums at a warehouse just kind of made it happen,” said Mr Honey, who also jumped on a ski to help.

Mrs Honey said the warehouse “was essentially a bit of a triple-0 service”.

“People would contact us with their crisis or their needs and we were able to help them directly,” she said.

“Whatever it was that they needed, most people had it within an hour or two.”

Durbidge recalled: “I’d never seen devastation like that. I just didn’t know the water could get that high – there’s people losing their houses and just freakin’ for their lives.

“It was just nuts.”

Mr Honey said the jet ski brigade worked from dawn until dark, dodging dangerous debris in the flood-swollen Tweed and Richmond rivers and street signs and power lines on roads that were completely underwater.

“I’d come in after 12 hours on the ski and the warehouse would still be full of these girls sorting. I’d be saying ‘go to bed’, and they wouldn’t stop,” he said.

Mrs Honey said it was devastating to see so many northern NSW flood victims were still homeless a year on from the disaster.

“They still need so much more help,” she said.

Durbidge said the disaster showed how people could pull together after the divisiveness of the Covid-19 pandemic.

“The power of the people and the power of networking and community, it was so alive,” he said.

“You just can’t wait around for people to help – if you see it you’ve just got to do it. We’ve kind of got a bit of an army now and we’re all on alert. If it gets bad (again), everyone will be ready to go again.”

Joel Parkinson helps flood victims to safety on his jet ski.

Originally published as Brisbane, NSW floods 2022: Mick Fanning, Joel Parkinson, Bede Durbidge to the rescue