floods6Frontier Services staff in Charleville have worked around the clock to assist the community with emergency measures since floodwaters struck the town last week.

Burke and Wills Patrol Minister John Case, a volunteer with the State Emergency Service (SES), has spent four days ferrying stranded residents stuck on the other side of the Warrego River into town for supplies.

Meanwhile, staff from the Remote Area Families Service (RAFS), Outback Links and the Charleville and District Family Day Care rolled up their sleeves to help out in the emergency evacuation centre.

floods4Up to 600 residents were moved to the evacuation centre in the showgrounds as the floodwaters reached peak levels on Friday.

The RAFS team was able to provide playgroup activities for children inside the evacuation centre. Other Frontier Services staff assisted with everything from packing sand bags to catering for evacuees and SES volunteers.

John Case said SES workers were measuring the level of the river every 15 minutes and kept a close eye on the levee bank to check for any leaks. The Warrego River peaked at 7.78m on Saturday night.

The flood has caused significant damage to a number of homes and properties surrounding the town.

“One lady I spoke to lost everything. The floods went right through the house. She had to get out in such a hurry. They were still unsure about what had happened to their stock,” said Mr Case.

“Quite a few places were flooded out – we do not know how many at this stage.”

Mr Case said the worst of the flooding had passed but he expected to spend another week still assisting residents to cross the swollen river by boat.

Frontier Services Regional Manager QLD Karen Harvey said: “The staff in Charleville have been absolutely amazing, working around the clock to assist the community. They are incredibly impressive people.”

Staff will continue to assist in whatever way they can, particularly those families that were affected as they clean up and assess the damage.