Inglewood prepares for upcoming flood season with rehearsal day at new Evacuation Assembly Point

Preparation was key in Inglewood this week, with multiple disaster agencies in town rehearsing for future flood evacuations at the new Evacuation Assembly Point at the Inglewood Waste Transfer Facility, and community members also touring the new site to prepare and familiarise themselves with the Assembly Point.

Goondiwindi Regional Council facilitated the rehearsal day, with representatives from the Queensland Fire and Emergency Services (QFES), State Emergency Service (SES), Queensland Police Service (QPS) and Local Disaster Management Group (LDMG) all in attendance, along with local councillors.

The exercises and training sessions on the day included setting up the new Assembly Point, testing a new QR-code registration process for evacuated residents, and running through parking arrangements for 320 cars, plus an overflow area for secondary vehicles.

Local residents also had the chance to visit the new site to familiarise themselves with the layout and to ask the local disaster agencies any questions they had.

Councillor Rick Kearney holds Council’s portfolio for Local Disaster Management and also chairs the LDMG. He said the afternoon was an opportunity for the whole community to get ready for potential future flood scenarios in Inglewood.

“We had the flood evacuation in November 2021, that hit us quickly with very little warning and there was a lot to learn from that scenario,” Cr Kearney said.

“Council has since reviewed its Local Disaster Management Plan and developed some new procedures in Inglewood, in particular, based on feedback from that event,” he said. “Council has now established the new Evacuation Assembly Point at the Waste Transfer Facility, so today was an opportunity to familiarise residents with the new site and, as a community, fine-tune our evacuation plans even further.

“One particular advantage of the new site is much better access, which was a challenge during the November 2021 evacuation,” he said. “We also have an improved registration system using simple QR codes - all Inglewood residents will receive information about this in the mail over the coming weeks, so I strongly encourage everyone to make sure they’ve read up and know what they have to do in case of a flood event.”

The Bureau of Meteorology has issued a wet outlook for the season ahead, with October to December rainfall likely to be above the median amount for the eastern half of Australia.

Inglewood residents are reminded that the SES will also be in town 13-14 October as part of ‘Get Ready Queensland Week’, to assist residents with preparing sandbags - more information to follow.

“While we all hope that our town won’t be required to evacuate again, we now at least have the benefit of experience and have been able to make improvements from there,” Cr Kearney said.

“As always, the best advice remains to prepare yourself, your household or your business now: prepare your flood plan, and get your emergency kit ready to go if needed.”