Pictorial essay of army, police and civil support during Far North Queensland floods

Army installs a temporary bridge over Ollera Creek, north of Townsville on the notorious Bruce Highway

Slide show of Australian army and emergency services in action during Queensland flood crisis in Far North Queensland 2025.

Fortunately the military base Lavarack Barracks in Townsville was not cut off for long with flood waters enabling Australian army engineers to quickly install a temporary bridge over Ollera Creek on the major southern access to Ingham, Tully, Innisfail and Cairns.

The temporary bridge has been removed this morning to allow TMR to dump road base and ballast in the washed out section preparing to rebuild the bitumen surface.

State KAP member for Hinchinbrook, Nick Dametto said Seymour River bridge north of Ingham has just been re-opened by TMR and there is now access to Cairns.

The notorious Bruce Highway was cut in numerous places due to record torrential rain not seen since 1967 which this year’s water levels almost reached.

Supermarket shelves were empty, service stations ran out of fuel and hospitals were inaccessible to flood ravaged residents battling rising water levels in their homes, businesses and farms.

For more than a week minor roads and electricity were cut off, reticulated water was lost, phone service was hampered and most people had little food. Cane and banana paddocks were under water.

Ergon Energy, which has many hundreds of repairmen on the ground from Cairns to Ayr, aided by army Chinook and civilian helicopters replaced poles and wires and drained sub-stations under horrific conditions.

As of today Ergon announced power has been restored to more than 30,000 customers.

Police and army personnel went door to door warning residents they should leave the worst affected areas while fast-rising flood waters left personnel and residents stranded.

Two lives were lost, one when a woman fell out of a rescue boat when it hit a submerged tree and an elderly woman was found drowned in a cane paddock. Chinook choppers dropped food and petrol pods for generators to Ingham township and ferried generators to outlying farms to keep banana cold rooms going.

Hinchinbrook Shire Council today started picking up the mountain of water damaged hard waste left on footpaths throughout the shire.

Nick Dametto praised the efforts of the community, emergency services, Ergon Energy, council staff, SES, RFS and volunteers which he said were working in unimaginable torrential rain and boggy conditions to restore services.

He said he had only one staff member in his office, the others having lost everything in floodwaters.

“Everyone is getting tired and I can understand, we know people are tired out there and we know it is very tough. I ask people to be considerate of others we have been assisting with this natural disaster for ten days,” Mr Dametto said.

“The TAFE Centre in Ingham has been set up as the Community Recovery Centre and we have put a number of links on our Facebook page to get the information out there so people understand where to go to apply for grant funding.”

https://www.facebook.com/NickDamettoMP/videos/2927485564085987

Hinchinbrook Local Disaster Coordination Centre is being handled by Hinchinbrook Shire Council. Their phone number is 4776 4600.

Anyone wishing to assist flood victims there is a Facebook group co-ordinating donations in Townsville:

https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61572535574623

https://www.facebook.com/search/top?q=greenvale%20roadhouse%20photos

The only other alternative, inland northern route, the Kennedy Developmental Road, Hughenden to The Lynd is closed to all vehicles due to swollen creeks and flood plains.