North Queenslanders band together during the February 2025 floods | Floody legends celebrated
From an Aussie music star who jumped behind a busy cafe counter along The Strand to help serve customers to all the local legends who filled a sandbag or rescued someone from floodwaters, these are the heroes from North Queensland.
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North Queenslanders have stayed true to themselves while in the face of the most recent disastrous and fatal flood.
While it has caused significant damage to homes, businesses, roads and lives – it has not shaken people’s spirit.
Wherever a person looked, they could see someone helping another without question, from those who door knocked to get people to safety, to the strangers who helped fill sandbags for another, even the local politicians got out in the rain and attended house calls to those who needed a way out of a flooded home.
These are the floody legends from NQ.
Styles serves coffee to locals
An Australian music star revisited his humble beginnings as a barista after hopping behind the counter at a Townsville cafe to provide a helping hand during the busy flood rush.
Reuben Styles, who makes up half of the Aria Award winning band Peking Duk, was in Townsville over the weekend for a solo show with his side project Y.O.G.A (You’re Only Great Always) for ARDO’s first birthday celebration.
Following the onslaught of rain, Styles had to spend the weekend in Townsville waiting for the flood waters to recede.
Styles told Today Extra on Tuesday morning he had been on a morning walk when he stumbled across the ‘The Happy Place’ cafe located along The Strand.
“Yesterday, I decided to go for a walk to see if there were any cafes open, obviously everything has been shut the last few days, but I saw there was this one guy manning his cafe by himself,” Reuben said.
“He was making all the smoothies, food and the coffees solo, then I noticed he had his arm in a sling.”
The music producer, who worked as a barista when he was younger, offered to help.
“I said, ‘Oh mate, it’s been a minute, but if I can help make some coffees I’d love to’,” Styles said.
He wasn’t the only one to hop behind the counter, with his own mum offering up her skills alongside a local police officer.
Swift newborn rescue
A thankful Hinchinbrook couple and their newborn daughter extended their eternal gratitude to the community after they were saved from floodwaters by a local floody legend.
Jonty Brown, a commercial fisherman, said he read a Townsville Bulletin article featuring a video interview with Alex Booker who was ferrying locals to and from their flooded homes and properties.
He contacted the Bulletin for Mr Booker’s number and was able to call him for help to flee their rural two-storey home on Fairford Rd west of Ingham with wife Codie and two-week-old baby Remi.
“We just weren’t ready for it to be that bad (and) I was worried about the baby and the missus, didn’t have enough food at home, didn’t have any power to heat up bottles, so safety was my main concern,” Mr Brown said.
Mr Brown said he was unable to repay Mr Booker with fuel but had some frozen fish in his freezer.
“It was the least I could do, he’s an absolute legend.”
NRL players trade football for sandbags
A couple of North Queensland Cowboys were spotted lending a helping hand at Lou Lister Park on Saturday.
Jeremiah Nanai and Viliami Vailea were helping residents fill up sandbags and carry them back to their vehicles in the pouring rain when the wild weather hit.
Residents who spotted the footy players said they had seen the duo there for hours helping out.
Voices of reason
HiLux help
One member of Everything Townsville, Jason Barrett put the dam measurements into a language the people of North Queensland could understand, HiLuxes.
On February 2 the local mastermind took to social media to enlighten the community on what was happening with rising water levels:
“Ross River Dam floodgates should be opening a further 25cm now, discharging 293 cubic metres of water per second downstream,” the post read.
“Using the best Townsville unit of measure I can think of, this 25cm opening means the equivalent of 70,000 Toyota HiLuxes is going over the dam every hour. If that is heading your way, please follow authorities directions.”
The post attracted 450 reactions and 137 comments from people praising the man’s translation.
Following that initial post, Mr Barrett continued to ensure people were up to date with how many HiLuxes of water were spilling from the dam.
Black zone map explained
Townsville woman Danika Leahy also took to social media to help others understand the map shared by Townsville Local Disaster Management Group that had many scratching their heads.
“Everybody has seen the flood map that’s been getting around since this morning with the black zone and the pink zone and I wanted to clear up a couple things,” she said to the camera in the video shared to Everything Townsville and Shake Wiggle Giggle – Dance Fitness Studio’s Facebook page.
“Tonight, an hour and a half ago the disaster management team released a statement, it’s been released by police everyone and circulating on social media stating that everybody in the black zone needs to be evacuated by midday tomorrow, so midday Sunday. Most of the feedback after that has been I don’t even got water on my street, it’s fine, it’s not raining that heavy – I’m sure all of that is true. That map is not showing the flooding from rain coming down on your street that map is showing potential flooding from water coming down the Ross River. “
The first video had more than 230 reactions and many people commented thanking the woman for the helpful information.
The following night, she made another video informing people from the black zone why they could not go home – even if there was no flooding on the streets.
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