 History to make future predictions We're very very look every every tragedy Every death that's happened during this event whether it's the tragedy of this morning or When it was during the rain event there were people washed over cause-wise. They're all terrible tragedies but look, we're just grateful there hasn't been more and I think it's important for all of us Particularly the media and we're thankful for that to get that message out around the dangers That are involved in entering flooded waters, but look, they're all tragedies and our efforts are really focused on preventing any more We've just been in a phone hookup with all the local disaster groups Issues of resupply and all the affected areas are progressing well Rockhampton, of course, was a major issue for us But thankfully we had sufficient time in between when the Yeppon crossing closed to restock and resupply Rockhampton One of the issues is that the peak in Rockhampton and some of the other towns Will remain quite high. We're expecting You know Rockhampton the Fitzroy and Rockhampton to subside very slowly And we could have a couple of weeks where where Rockhampton is fully or partially isolated So there's a lot of planning going around resupply Thankfully issues around water and sewage in Rockhampton are fine Most towns are reporting some isolated losses of power However, the efforts there with Energex and Ergon Incredible really they're getting in and getting power back on very quickly. So Certainly this morning's briefing from all the affected areas This issue of resupply seems to be well in hand Absolutely certainly St. George and Serrat on the Balon. There's a watching brief on those. There's some suggestions that That St. George could reach peaks to I think was March in 2010 the last flood and certainly Serrat Some of the modeling is indicating that it could be, you know, the river could peak at record levels The local groups there have got the situation well in hand and are thinking through all contingencies But certainly as those waters move down through the catchment They're certainly towns that we've got a very close watch on Do you think residents there are better prepared because they've just had that recent experience? Look, I'm sure I'm sure that the the experience. This is very much a statewide event All the local disaster groups certainly talk each day We have a phone hook up each day with all of them and I'm sure we're all learning off each other Lessons learned as the event unfolds What is clear from the briefing is that the all those Effected communities have the situation well in hand. They're thinking through contingencies. Should there be a need to evacuate? They're thinking through which is Around restocking and food and water and and all those types of things. So we've been extremely Impressed I guess at the resilience of those smaller communities and how they're banding together to work to deal with this disaster I think roughly speaking there's probably a thousand people we've got exact Figures that I can provide to you on that by town and of course not all people that are registered in an evacuation Center stay there every night But we can provide that to you but roughly about a thousand people are in evacuation centers around Queensland That's right, and you know we have some huge catchment areas in Queensland the catchment area for the Fitzroy itself is a hundred and fifty thousand square kilometers but certainly That analogy has been drawn that the the flood affected area is as big as New South Wales What they're feeling at the moment is From the Warrigan system, I think is so which means it's almost the consequence of Two lots of water coming through which means the serrat must be in a bit of a precarious situation at the moment The every day we talk to the Bureau of Meteorology Particularly the area of hydrology. They have quite sophisticated Modelling that factors all the water that's entering the catchment area They brief us constantly during the day Serrat is certainly an area to watch and You know the local community there through the local disaster group is planning Depending on how that modeling changes over the ensuring week. They are planning for all contingencies, but yes It's a very very widespread flood and we're seeing towns With unprecedented levels in terms of river height Look, I haven't heard any any issues around seed bags But we'd be happy to talk to you after the conference if you had any particular questions around particular Locations That's correct. Yeah, we've been in contact with all our local groups this morning That's one of the areas we're particularly concerned about as people return to their dwellings and and start to place their Goods out to dry. It's one to watch We'd like to get the message out there that we have Put additional police resources into all of these towns. They're actively patrolling The streets as flood waters subside Thankfully, we haven't had any confirmed reports today We'd be able to give you that's constantly changing The first lot of we put an extra four police into Theodore to start with an extra five in the condom mine Naturally, there wasn't a lot of both of those towns are completely Evacuated but that's changing on a daily basis. We're managing the issues of fatigue as well Across the whole area of emergency services workers This is likely to be a very protracted event perhaps for another month As waters subside, but those numbers that are changing all the time, but the The issue of police numbers into those towns knows change daily based on on the needs Well all towns they're not necessarily being patrolled specifically for learning. They're being the police deployed in those areas are doing Emergency response emergency rescue work. They're also actively patrolling to make sure that people's properties are Secure I don't I don't have a figure it would be literally thousands of people and and what we're seeing in local communities through with the SES in particular that people chipping in to help Whole communities are sort of mobilizing particularly in that recovery stage where people are helping each other clean their houses and Providing each other with support and I think this is one of the things that makes Queensland such a great place is the fact that people do chip in and help each other when times are tough We're seeing some wonderful reports all around the state how that's happening Look, I think it's very hard to make that call Because it's a unique event. We're seeing parts of the state still in response mode while others move into recovery mode I think we're very much in the middle of the event Ah You know it won't be until waters recede where we can actually gauge the damage to public infrastructure roads and bridges So I think we're very much the event still a long way to go No, I think that's an unknown and we certainly won't have any clarity on that until flood waters fully recede Thank you. I can answer that My name's Warren Britson on the acting assistant director general for emergency management Queensland and the SES is part of our management structure Yes, we have the state emergency service personnel from Queensland assisted Victoria as you may recall last year and some floods So they were very generous to offer their assistance as well So we're bringing some teams up from Victoria to assist in our emergency operation centers particularly at Emerald and also here in the State Center There's some people coming from New South Wales some what we call flood experts In the state emergency service and they're going to be deployed into Rockhampton and here as well Internally, we're moving a lots of state emergency service volunteers into the areas affected from obviously those areas not affected We're bringing for instance 40 personnel out of Cairns. They're heading to awards Emerald now and we've already flown them yesterday into Rockhampton There's about 20 personnel going from the Sunshine Coast up into Bundaberg and the list goes on So we're moving people internally to assist those people who need help But more importantly, we're into fatigue management now with their volunteers. They've been out there since before Christmas non-stop So we're also putting people in there now just to give others a rest It's only quite small it's only five Emergency management team experts and flood expert, you know from New South Wales and there's about 10 from Victoria coming But they're on standby to give us more bearing in mind, of course, New South Wales is affected by flooding as well That's the figures been spoken about but we're taking them in I guess small chunks We're bringing five people forward as I spoke about and there's others on waiting lists and we can get them if necessary That's correct. Yes I think Emerald certainly the report this morning is that power is back on but there's always pockets That are not on is a lot of a lot of times houses and businesses have to be inspected before you can turn it back on so the service out there is patchy but as the flood waters recede and Electrical engineers make places safe that power is getting turned back on Certainly nothing emerging, but it's certainly very much a watching brief Health contribute to our our briefings during out the during the day Thankfully, we haven't had any issues with water contamination, etc. That's been met in very well Also, thankfully Where hospitals have been taken offline local clinics have been able to be established and and resourced the issue of of Mosquitoes and etc. Is an issue when part of resupply is is to provide You know Etc. So it is key issue. It's something that's raised every day is part of the watching brief But certainly at the moment nothing's emerges a major issue Very much I would think so particularly with recovery Rockhampton for examples expecting to Hold, you know, the waters will recede there very slowly in may hold near to its peak till mid-January and then you've got the the very very onerous work of recovery so how quickly communities respond To recovery is an unknown it could take but I'd expect will still be Very much in recovery mode as we move into the beginning of February No, very much very much. That's a that is an issue. I think we could expect Certainly closures for at least another week We'll do some more modeling on that with the Bureau of Meteorology Because of the extent of the flooding as I said the Fitzroy River catchment areas 150,000 square kilometers The waters in Rockhampton are expected to recede very slowly But one thing's for certain as soon as it's possible to reopen and it will be reopened We're keeping a very very close eye on that it is still open at the moment We were advised just prior to this meeting And I believe from memory was about point nine of a meter below the road So my understanding is that that that road is still open But once again, it's so important to ask people to plan any essential travel and to consult Both the RACQ website and the 131940 website for up-to-date Road closure information. Thank you Some good questions around