Flood rescue pilot fights back tears giving evidence into Grantham disaster
STANDBY CHOPPER: Emergency Management Queensland southwest regional director Robert Bundy told the commission of inquiry into January's flood disaster he was puzzled by the decision to send a helicopter from Townsville to St George despite it not being requested. Picture: Nathan Richter
Source: The Courier-Mail
EMOTIONAL RECOLLECTION: When describing how stranded residents drew the rescue crew's attention to those in greater need during Grantham's flood disaster, Mark Kempton choked back tears. Picture: Nathan Richter
Source: The Courier-Mail
THE helicopter pilot who rescued stricken Grantham residents from floodwater, trees and rooftops has choked back tears while reliving his experiences of January 10.
Emergency Management Queensland rescue pilot Mark Kempton has started giving evidence at the commission of inquiry in to the disaster.
Mr Kempton told the inquiry he and his crew arrived at Grantham on the afternoon of January 10 to find a "massive amount" of water, debris and damaged buildings.
"On the structures that remained there were just people dotted on rooftops all over the place," he said.
"We were very conscious of the fact we didn't want to miss anyone."
Flood inquiry: The story so far
End of sidebar.
Return to start of sidebar.
When describing how stranded residents drew the rescue crew's attention to those in greater need, Mr Kempton became emotional.
"That was extraordinary because these people were trapped on roofs," he said.
"It was just a very difficult scenario to see those people who were trapped ... to see these people were kind and thoughtful enough to say 'don't get me, get them'."
Earlier, the inquiry heard a government emergency helicopter was sent from Townsville to St George during the summer flood crisis in spite of the fact local authorities had no immediate need for the aircraft.
The revelation came during the cross examination of Emergency Management Queensland's regional director of southwest Queensland Robert Bundy.
Under cross examination Mr Bundy said he was puzzled by the decision to send the helicopter and made inquiries to Brisbane, from where the directive had come.
Mr Bundy said he was told "it was just there as a standby".
"It wasn't requested (locally), no," he said.
When asked how he felt a future flood event could be better handled Mr Bundy said he believed a greater emphasis should be placed on local knowledge, pointing to an incident where decision makers in Brisbane wanted to send 60 SES volunteers in to Condamine - a "proud" township of just 40 or 50 houses.
"We get a lot of decisions made in Brisbane, or elsewhere, that don't really understand the conditions at the time," he said.
"The focus needs to rely on local government.
"Local government is the best placed level of government to make those decisions."
Mr Bundy said there had also been issues attracting SES volunteers in some areas, such as Dalby.