Locals have pulled together through the 2022 floods which devastated south-east Queensland and New South Wales.
Beaudesert was cut off as the Logan and Albert rivers rose and flash flooding swallowed up key roads and made a mess of local properties.
However, evacuations and rescues around Beaudesert were minimal, there was no loss of human life locally and some locals even turned their attention to helping those harder hit.
Allan Creek Road. Image by Queensland Fire and Emergency
Services, via RPAS.
Beaudesert is drying out and cleaning up after flash flooding and relentless rain soaked the region and battered New South Wales and other parts of south-east Queensland.
The Bureau of Meteorology recorded widespread rainfall totals of 400-800mm across the Logan and Albert catchments over the final weekend in February, with isolated higher totals.
It was an anxious start to March as Beaudesert continued to swell under ongoing rain over the already sodden ground.
Many locals were cut off from getting to work, farms were impacted, kids were kept home from school and local services were short staffed as employees could not get to town.
Stock on supermarket shelves dwindled as road conditions limited deliveries and locals took to social media to share information about where to find milk, bread and other staple items.
Smaller greengrocers and local cafes and pubs were also run off their feet, going to extra lengths to keep up with demand for groceries and meals.
At the height of the local floods, on the night of 27 February, local emergency services carried out three rescues in the Beaudesert area.
They rescued two adults and a dog from the roof of a house on Beaudesert-Boonah Road near the racecourse, an adult from a car on flooded Flagstone Creek Road and an adult from a car on Beaudesert Beenleigh Road.
The next day, emergency services gathered vital flood data via drone (officially referred to by them as Remotely Piloted Aircraft Systems – RPAS).
Chris Thompson from Beaudesert Fire and Rescue said it was key to the flood response.
“Beaudesert as a community is lucky that we have this capability in our fire station. We’ve been conducting rapid damage assessments for the Queensland Fire and Emergency Services and the local Council, utilising RPAS from the air to get to places still cut off by water. We’ve been working together to support the communities of the Scenic Rim,” he said.
Inspector Craig Lashman, who worked as liaison between the emergency services as part of the Scenic Rim Local Disaster Management Group, said an enduring message for everyone to remember was, “If it’s flooded, forget it.”
At time of print, recovery funding announced included the Australian Government Disaster Recovery Payment for all eligible Scenic Rim residents and the Queensland Government Personal Hardship Financial Assistance in some parts of Scenic Rim.
