Wujal Wujal desperate for help in flood recovery
Shoulder-deep mud is being cleared from roads as the extent of damage at the Far North community of Wujal Wujal becomes evident, and it is clear heavy duty help is needed urgently.
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Wujal Wujal Aboriginal Council chief executive Kiley Hanslow and her partner Lawrence Fry gathered in a huddle with other residents at the end of the highest street in the Bloomfield River township and believed their lives would end as the flood reached its zenith on December 17.
“We actually said our goodbyes to each other, thought about all the good times,” Ms Hanslow said.
The relentless water pounded through the township culminating in rooftop flooding of some houses and widespread destruction of facilities like the health clinic.
“We were getting people to move and up and up and up,” she said.
“We couldn’t have gotten out, we’d have had to go up the hill, but there’s landslides everywhere.
“And the rain just didn’t stop.”
Efforts to rescue hundreds of members of the community with standard helicopters failed and on December 19 Australian Defence Force Chinook helicopters began taking people out over three days, to Cooktown.
“They were coming into a wall of white rain, they had no visibility at all, there was just a big wall of water,” Ms Hanslow said.
Most people would have clung to their muddied homes and refused to leave if they had a choice, and they are now anxious to return home.
Wujal Wujal has only two SES members, and they are the only pair in town apart from police now – Ms Hanslow and Mr Fry.
Getting into the community means navigating in a hefty 4WD through newly-cleared shoulder deep mud lining either side of the road toward soaked homes strewn with debris.
Despite the destruction, it is easy to see the cohesive little community was thriving before the disaster, with a woman’s place, a men’s shed, a splash park, kindy, arts centre and cafe and immaculately-kept homes.
Ironically, Ms Hanslow said she was working on a grant application for a disaster resilience officer when the flood hit.
“Cyclone Jasper came and we thought it was a bit of a fizzer, but then the rain came,” she said.
“I think the rebuild will take quite some time.
“Our depot is totalled, all our machinery went underwater, all our vehicles, all our plant, everything.
“I don’t know what’s down the river – our administration building went underwater.
“So there’s a very big clean up, there’s a metre and half of mud in some places.
“It’s going to be a very big road ahead of us.
“We were going so well,” she said.
The road between Cooktown and Wujal Wujal opened on New Year’s Eve and some residents came back and took approximately 50 much-loved dogs which had been cared for by police.
Some wanted to stay, but are not allowed to – the township is not fit for habitation.
Queensland Police said on December 20 that additional emergency services would deploy to flood-affected areas to assist with response, recovery and reconnection of isolated communities, but things seem to be moving slowly.
Ms Hanslow said Queensland Reconstruction Authority officer Jake Ellwood had visited, seeking information to plan priorities.
Asked how long it might take for people to be able to return, Ms Hanslow was pragmatic.
“I’d like to stay three weeks’ time but it it’s not going to be that, realistically, we’re probably looking at three or four months, maybe six months, recovery could take right up to a year or so.”
The couple has been living on rice, noodles and tinned food heated on a gas camping stove and were excited to receive a generator.
“We’re all going to come out of this disaster brighter and stronger,” she said.
State MP for Cook Cynthia Lui on Facebook said she visited Wujal Wujal on December 28 and put a call out for cleaning supplies, gumboots and long pants.
But Douglas Shire Mayor Michael Kerr said the community adjacent to his shire needed rather more than donations.
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Originally published as Wujal Wujal desperate for help in flood recovery
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