‘Fabulous feeling of altruism’: Flood evacuees prepare for Christmas in Cooktown

Dual natural disasters have brought out the Christmas spirit in Cooktown with children from flood-affected communities being greeted with toys and trinkets as hundreds descend on “the gateway to Cape”.

Saint got an exclusive tour with paramedic Jaynee inside an ambulance at Cooktown airport while eagerly awaiting his family's arrival from Wujal Wujal. Picture Queensland Ambulance

Dual natural disasters have brought out the Christmas spirit in Cooktown with children from flood-affected communities being greeted with toys and trinkets as hundreds descend on “the gateway to Cape”.

The Australian Defence Force (ADF) choppered in almost a hundred evacuees from Wujal Wujal on Tuesday with numbers expected to more than double by Thursday afternoon.

The battered remote Indigenous community copped the brunt of Tropical Cyclone Jasper last Wednesday before record floodwaters forced residents onto their roofs for days.

Australian Army soldiers from 51st Battalion, Far North Queensland Regiment, and 5th Aviation Regiment assist a resident to evacuate from Wujal Wujal on 19 December 2023. Picture: Carolyn Barnett, ADF

But Cook Shire CEO Brian Joiner said the entire community had embraced their holiday guests, offering gifts, warm meals and lodgings throughout the town as well at the local disaster centre.

“Sometimes you get a bit cynical in these types of jobs but seeing the way the community has banded together to help people is above and beyond,” Mr Joiner said.

“We’re getting duplication because people are so keen to help.

“But I’d rather we did things twice than not at all. You’re really proud of people in these sorts of times.”

Cooktown Mayor Peter Scott praised residents for welcoming flood evacuees from nearby communities into the community.

With little hope of roads to the remote Indigenous community reopening soon, mayor Peter Scott said families might expect more guests at the dinner table this festive season.

“The reality is Wujal still doesn’t have power and won’t for a long time. There’s no sewerage, no water,” Mr Scott said.

“It’s not a good place to be. But it’s going well at the evacuation centre and some people have been placed around town with family, friends and in social housing.”

Rossville to Ayton Road is one of several in the region that has been washed out. (Image: Facebook / Mulligan Highway and Cooktown Primary Road Updates)

With toy drives and freshly stocked supermarket shelves the town is already feeling the Christmas spirit, Mr Scott said.

“They (the evacuees) are just so grateful and happy to be in a good place,” he said.

“I spoke to a whole lot of them on Tuesday. They’ve said, ‘We just need to get the rest of our mob up here.’ So that’s what we’re trying to do.”

“We’ve got the community organising Christmas present drives for the Wujal kids.

“There’s a fabulous feeling of altruism. In the past we’ve always been isolated up this way.”

Police have released footage of evacuations from Wujal Wujal to Cooktown with the assistance of ADF Chinooks, along with images of damage to the Mulligan Highway near Cooktown. Emergency services personnel boarding a Chinook to deploy from Cooktown back to Wujal Wujal to assist with response and recovery

Cooktown Country Women’s Association has been providing warm meals for evacuees and emergency service providers throughout the week.

“Every Monday we run a free soup kitchen with pre-prepared meals,” secretary Katherine Findlay said.

“We had a couple of weeks’ stock in hand. For us, it’s just a matter of staying in the background and making sure everything people need is looked after.”

Cooktown residents’ efforts to rally around neighbouring communities epitomised the Far North Queensland spirit, Mr Scott said.

“We’re resilient, self- sufficient, independent but when someone needs a hand we never hesitate,” he said.

Originally published as ‘Fabulous feeling of altruism’: Flood evacuees prepare for Christmas in Cooktown