Community & Business
1 April, 2022
CWA House hosts thank you BBQ for flood volunteers
Last Wednesday, CWA House in Oakey invited volunteers from the community, SES and rural fire brigade for a barbecue to show thanks for their flood assistance.
CWA House workers pitched up shades and chairs for the occasion, where residents and volunteers alike could sit down and enjoy a lunch in the sun reflecting on the recent evacuation of residents.
During the recent floods, members of the Oakey SES, Jondaryan Rural Fire Brigade and the Gowrie Little Plain Rural Fire Brigade came to the rescue of CWA House residents and evacuated them to higher ground on the 27th February 2022.
Residents spent the night in the function room of the Oakey RSL to avoid potential flooding from the Oakey Creek.
Oakey SES volunteer Darren Mulder said the evacuation was a long process.
“It took us hours to complete the evacuation and it was difficult getting them [the residents] up the steps of the RSL,” he said.
Oakey SES volunteer Margie Flynn said the group also provided assistance in Goombungee and Kingsthorpe.
She said SES members are now waiting on standby since the weather has cleared up.
Both the Jondaryan Rural Fire Brigade and the Gowrie Little Plain Rural Fire Brigade responded to the evacuation.
Jondaryan Rural Fire Brigade volunteer and Oakey resident Amy Weck said the operation took about three hours when she arrived on scene after the SES volunteers.
“There was one truck with four firefighters from Jondaryan and three trucks with about eight firefighters across them from Gowrie Little Plain,” she said.
Ms Weck said the road from Jondaryan to Oakey was tough to cross and at one point she had to spend the night at the Jondaryan station until the flood waters cleared.
Oakey resident Kerry Bradford said she was amazed by how willing to help Councillor Rebecca Vonhoff was on the day of the evacuation.
“She really dug in,” she said.
“I’ve never seen a Councillor get their hands dirty as much as she did.
Mrs Bradford said as soon as Cr Vanhoff arrived at CWA House she jumped into action and was asking what she could do to help.
