Military response to deadly flooding

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ISOLATION: This aerial handout photo taken by Queensland Premier Campbell Newman, shows floodwaters surrounding properties in the town of Bundaberg in Australia’s Queensland state. — AFP photo

Troops prepare for massive clean-up operation following storms which killed four and left thousands isolated

SYDNEY: Australia ramped up its military response to deadly flooding in the country’s northeast yesterday, as troops prepared for a massive clean-up operation following storms which killed four and left thousands of homes swamped.

Heavy rains and flooding triggered by ex-tropical cyclone Oswald have inundated the states of Queensland and New South Wales, with the most recent fatality a three-year-old boy killed by a falling tree.

Tens of thousands of people have been left isolated or displaced by the torrents, but after rivers peaked in most areas late yesterday waters began to drop gradually and troops started to prepare for a mammoth recovery effort.

MEDICAL ASSISTANCE: This handout photo provided by the Australian Defence shows Corporal Amy-Jade Best. — AFP photo

Flight Lieutenant Vi Tri Phuong from RAAF Base Richmond’s No. 3 Aeromedical Evacuation Squadron (3AMES), assesses a patient’s medical conditions prior to her evacuation from Bundaberg and (photo right) a No. 37 Squadron (37SQN) C-130J Hercules A97-448 running its engines in preparation for take off. — AFP photo

“We’re planning to have some troops on the ground hopefully within the next 24 hours. It looks like waters will recede and we’ll be able to gain access,” Brigadier Greg Bilton told reporters.

“We are working closely with the district disaster coordinator to ensure that we have a series of tasks where we can make a viable and sensible contribution to the clean-up and assist the start of that recovery process.”

The sugar-farming town of Bundaberg was devastated as the swollen Burnett River peaked at a record 9.6 metres, with officials saying some 2,000 homes and 300 businesses had been flooded.

Queensland Police Minister Jack Dempsey said about 7,500 residents had been displaced by the floodwaters, with 1,000 people plucked from the roofs of their homes in daring evening rescues after the river broke its banks late on Monday.

“We did have a situation of fast-rising floodwaters and people being very rapidly isolated on ever-diminishing islands of ground,” Queensland Premier Campbell Newman said.

Prime Minister Julia Gillard said four military helicopters, 100 troops and three transport aircraft had been deployed to the emergency, with the evacuation of 131 patients from Bundaberg’s hospital to state capital Brisbane a priority.

Some of the most dramatic footage from the floods in Queensland showed a toddler being winched to safety in a bag from the back of a truck.

Robin Collie, 22, who is four months pregnant, said yesterday she felt “sick” as her sobbing 14-month-old son Luke was lifted from her arms by a helicopter rescue team.

She had been driving to the town of Biloela in northeastern Queensland when her utility truck hit a submerged tree and stalled in rising floodwaters. — AFP