The Covid-19 pandemic has resulted in more travellers heading into the Outback than usual but many of them are not adequately prepared to do so … and it’s causing problems.
The issue has been exacerbated by the fact that heavy rains in the bush have caused flooding in some places and tracks have been closed.
Mount Isa policing district’s Acting Senior Sergeant Todd Noble told the ABC that police have dealt with three incidents in the past week which required both police and the LifeFlight helicopter to rescue people.
“It’s quite an unpredictable time out here,” he said. “We have had a lot of rainfall, there’s a lot of dirt roads, people aren’t familiar with the area, and we’ve found people aren’t checking the road conditions.”
Senior Sergeant Noble said people weren’t carrying enough food, water, and supplies in case they do get stranded, and many had the wrong type of vehicles.
Amy Woodhouse, the boss of the Boulia Riverside Roadhouse in north-west Queensland, said people were travelling on dirt roads and arriving in small towns with no understanding of the dangers.
“We had a lady come down last night from Mount Isa wanting to go across the Plenty — which is called a highway but it’s not fully sealed yet,” she told the ABC. “At the moment it’s closed because it’s flooded, but she hadn’t checked.”
Ms Woodhouse said when the woman arrived in Boulia she had to tell her to go back to Mount Isa — a three-hour drive.
“I would much rather get a phone call at seven o’clock at night to say ‘hey, is this road open?’ than find out the next morning someone drove into a flooded creek or perished because they were bogged for three days,” she said.
Barcaldine Regional Council Mayor Sean Dillon told the ABC that any rain can cause roads and river crossings to rise rapidly.
“We’re hoping people — especially visitors to our region or travellers through — please travel to what the road signs and conditions dictate,” he said. “If it’s not sealed don’t risk it. Take the extra couple of hours, take the scenic route, go around on a road that we know will get you through.
