Tony Rayner, Mayor, Longreach Shire – Flood crisis (13 March)

0:00Welcome back to Rural Queen's Land today. Well, while the Broncos were getting beaten at Suncorp Stadium, bigger issues are, obviously, the flooding in the central west and the lack of fuel. Tony Rainer, the mayor of Long Beach Regional Council, joined you in this morning. Tony, a very good morning to you, mate, and thank you for giving me some time this morning. You're welcome, Ben, and good morning listeners. Mate, give us an update. Pete, expected Pete, today am I right with the Thompson River? No, it won't be today now, Ben. The Thompson River is showing its true flow in nature. And it's always does this. It'll be a couple of days out. So probably Sunday we'll get the big peak. But we will see significant rise today and tomorrow in the river and a bit of minor flooding over the next day. So and then on Sunday we expect the peak and fairly significant flooding. Where does that sit when you talk about significant flooding and the town? Where is that at?

1:00And are you concerned? Well, in terms of when the water end is down, it's got about two and a half caves of floodplain that across is first from the main river channel. And then once it's crossed that and it's full, it then starts to end at town. And that's normally at about six metres or higher that we start to get water creeping in at edge of town. The Bureau of Math of forecasting 6.7, which would see a well-infooling at the outskirts of Long Beach and into some dwellings. So we're doing off to about 80 houses. Yesterday we'll do a few more today. We've got sandbags ready. The Long Beach locals are really good Ben there. You know, they've lived here. They've seen floods every 20 years. So most of them know how to handle it. Unfortunately, there will be some houses that will get water in them. But in general... You've got time at the moment, though, having you, Tony. I don't want to be in any way silver lining it, but people can move gear out and, you know,

2:02and prepare, at least you've got a little bit of time to prepare for this one. Absolutely, Ben. We've always got a week's notice. We've got good context up in Mudabara, up in 100 caves, up above us in the headwaters. There's a big river system up there, Ben. You've got the Landsbrook Cornish, Tau Hill, Aramack Creek. They all had pools of anywhere up to 270 mills, which is a central rain. And over time, over a week or so, that runs its way down. And of course, Long Beach is built on a floodplain. We will get water into the deep town. And it managed well in terms of... As you said, we're well prepared. We've got sandbags. We've got evacuation crews. We've got water crews. So everyone's working really well together as a community. And we'll get by this over the next week or so. And that's the good news out of it. How's the fuel situation, mate? At this stage, it's okay. We did score a couple of deliveries over the last 24 hours, which was good. Topped up a couple of servos that were running low. So in the short term, we're good.

3:04And beyond that, well, it's anyone's guess, Ben, as to what the future holds for fuel security. Just highlights that we do need, manufacturing and processing in Australia. Are you concerned about it? I mean, you love your town. You've got some challenges right at the moment with the flooding and obviously... And now the lands are just closed. I know, I think, I think, went into Kainuna's closed as well at the moment. I know, I know, black all the time, but it might be closed, I think, at the moment still. There is some water around, but fuel access and serviceability for people to continue to farm and to, obviously, for the agriculture sector has to be a priority. And yet these blokes in Canberra don't seem to really understand the true enormity of this situation. Well, I hear Longreach is no different to any other town in regional Australia. Then we rely on fuel. It is the backbone of everything we do,

4:04whether it be the milk and bread, that we use every day to exporting cattle and wool around the country. Just everything relies on fuel. This week we've had a mini-skill camp at School of Business Education. 30 or 40 vehicles in the town, they will need fuel. So there's no one that's not impacted if we run out of fuel. That's something we desperately need to avoid for the nation. I'm really pleased that you had some fuel. Tell me this now, how long once the water does hit and that Sunday expected to hit from the Thompson over the floodplain and inundation, how long till it recedes? Once the water comes in, which will be this weekend, it could sit there for three to four days, because there is a large volume of water to slowly come down. So once it gets above 6.5 metres, it could sit at that level on and off for a few days. Obviously you get a few peaks and rocks

5:06and then in about a week's time it'll start to ease, which will be good. Yeah, everybody, that will be sandflies will be your next thing. But you know what? That's the least of your worries. Thank you for being with us. I appreciate it. I just hope everybody is safe over the next couple of days. A lot of work. I know the council will be doing a lot of work over the next few days. We're doing, obviously, people moving gear and preparing for what will be another flood through long reach. I know it's not disaster zone, but you just certainly get it preferred not to have to go through people's houses. And a community like yours will come together, no doubt. The great thing coming out of this thing will be a gain like last year for the Lake Air Basin and Lake Ed will be one of the most spectacular season that you can witness. So once the water gets out of the way and the next week or so, we look forward to welcoming all the visitors that are just about ready to come out and enjoy the great Western Queensland Outback. Yeah, it's going to be a special, special winter this year for you. No question about it, just unbelievable. Tony Runner, I really appreciate you

6:07giving me some time this morning. Thanks, mate. And we'll talk to you again shortly and hope everybody's safe in long reach and surrounding areas as you brace for a flood on Sunday. So thank you for being with us. Thanks for the thoughts. Good on you. We'll take a break. Come back plenty more to get through. This is Rural Queensland today.