Thursday, April 28, 2011

Inquiry hears of Queensland flood chaos

A former army major has given Queensland's Flood Inquiry unflattering evidence about an uncoordinated and incompetent response by emergency services.

He described taking control and restoring order in the Lockyer Valley community of Murphy's Creek four days after the disaster.

The inquiry had earlier heard the area hardest hit by the floods did not have proper disaster or evacuation plans.

Annie Guest reports from Toowoomba.

ANNIE GUEST: At the bottom of the Toowoomba range, Murphy's Creek became a intense river when it was one of the first places struck by the disaster that raced through the Lockyer Valley on the 10th of January. It claimed lives and homes.

Four days later the place was still disordered and the emergency response disorganised and ineffectual, according to former Army major Peter Souter.

He'd made his way from his cut off home four kilometres along the creek and found up to 300 residents gathered at the pub.

Peter Souter described how he and an Air force Major took charge, after he witnessed separate emergency agencies not communicating, interviewing the same inhabitants up to four times and failing to make progress on necessary services.

No comments:

Post a Comment