Eight Australian Defence Force (ADF) helicopters will assist with search, evacuation and resupply of people affected by the flood in the area of Roma, St George and Dirranbandi in South East Queensland, at the request of the Queensland Government through Emergency Management Australia.
Recent heavy rainfall across South-East QLD and northern NSW has caused severe flooding that has resulted in evacuations, community isolation and inundation to some properties.
These helicopters have been made available to assist in these vital efforts as a result of regular discussions between myself and Premier Bligh.
A request for assistance with night search and rescue capability came as the situation in Roma deteriorated yesterday afternoon.
The ADF tasked two Black Hawk and two Kiowa helicopters, which arrived in Roma at 10:20pm and commenced operations to search for, evacuate and resupply people affected in the Roma area.
Overnight, the Black Hawk helicopters transported Red Cross personnel from Roma to Mitchell and other people who were isolated by the flood waters. The Kiowa helicopters have conducted a search east of Mitchell along the Warrego Highway looking for stranded vehicles and searching for reported missing persons in the Roma area.
The helicopters will be available to assist in rescue operations as required until the immediate crisis has passed. A further two Black Hawk and two Kiowa helicopters are planned to arrive today. Working with Queensland authorities, the Federal Government will closely monitor the need for additional assets to support these operations.
ADF helicopters played a crucial role in supporting humanitarian relief operations in Queensland in early 2011 - providing aero medical evacuation and air lift during those floods.
The Federal Government, through Defence, Emergency Management Australia, and other agencies such as Centrelink will continue to assist the people of Queensland in the response to these events.