Outback publican finds hostelry coated in mud as residents return to tiny Queensland outpost after flooding | Rural Australia

When Koss Siwers returned to his pub in outback Queensland nothing was where he left it and pretty much everything was coated with mud.

Residents of Adavale, 900km west of Brisbane, have started coming back to the tiny outpost after evacuations forced by widespread flooding.

Siwers laid eyes on the Adavale pub on Saturday. “It’s an absolute mess, I’ve never seen anything like it,” he said.

“The mud, it must have been five to 10 centimetres thick. The furniture is all over the place like somebody has done your place over.

“Anything that could have floated has floated, nothing was where I left it.”

Siwers, who splits his time between Adavale and Brisbane, said fridges, freezers and beds were “done for” but the building looked structurally sound despite water in its stumps.

Almost 80 State Emergency Services personnel are helping communities after an area the size of New South Wales was flooded in southern and western Queensland.

Senior Constable Chris Seng, the only police officer in Adavale, teamed up with another resident to ferry people to safety using a tinnie that hadn’t been started in years. He almost got swept away by fast-moving waters.

Seng has been working alongside the SES and other emergency crews for more than a week to assist with the recovery.

“It’s not real good,” he said. “Everywhere you look there is damage.

“They’re all good people here. It is heartbreaking to see [but] everybody is pretty resilient … they’ll get it done.”

Adavale is one of several isolated communities cut off by the flooding.

State government and privately contracted planes have been sent to the Longreach and Charleville areas with fuel and supplies.

They have also been undertaking fodder drops for isolated properties and remote stations.

Thargomindah, about 300km south of Adavale, experienced the worst flooding of its history with 7.5m-plus water levels topping the 1974 previous high.

Siwers said some charity donations would go towards the delivery of beer for weary volunteers and locals from Monday.

“People are doing OK but one lady said she was moving up the hill,” he said, adding that he wanted to keep owning the pub for another few years.

“There is talk of moving the town up the hill but we’ll see what happens.”

More than 1,000 bales of hay have been distributed to affected areas since the start of the flooding, which has killed 150,000 sheep, cattle and goats.