Defence planes have transported more than 20 tonnes of food and supplies from Broome into the isolated town of Derby in Western Australia following a priority request from the WA Department of Fire and Emergency Services.
Roads into the town have been cut off by severe flooding that occurred in the aftermath of Ex-Tropical Cyclone Ellie, resulting in food supplies being critically low in the town.
Local transport providers in Broome and in Derby worked with Defence crews to load and unload the food supplies throughout the day.
Deputy Commander of the Task Element Flying Officer Amie Ballon said that there had been challenges to overcome to transport the stores, particularly the cold and frozen foods.
“The cold stores needed to be moved fridge-to-fridge within a time limit of two hours, so there was a logistical piece where we had to get goods to and from the aircraft and load them onto the fridge at the other end within that timeframe,” she said.
A second logistical challenge was to coordinate a high volume of Defence aircraft traffic with only a limited amount of space on the Broome airport apron.
As well as the C-130J Hercules and C-27J Spartan aircraft delivering food stores, three Army MRH-90 Taipan and two CH-47 Chinook helicopters were also using the tarmac, while a C-17A Globemaster landed to deliver equipment to Broome.
Ian Sinclair, owner of local business Pearl Coast Distributors, delivered the cold stores up to the C-27J Spartan.
He said the feedback from businesses in Derby had been immediate.
“I’ve had a number of phone calls from people in Derby very grateful for what Defence has been able to do for them on our behalf,” Mr Sinclair said.
The transport operator, who usually operates between Broome, Derby and Fitzroy Crossing, said there is likely to be a long wait before the roads are open to trucks.
“We’ve been told by the Shire that about 10km of the road has been literally washed away and they’re expecting the road to be out of commission for somewhere between two to three months,” he said.
Despite the challenges for the RAAF crews and ground staff, Flying Officer Ballon said all members of the team had been happy to assist.
“These are real-time emergency services that we are providing. We are learning lots on the go and everybody is really happy to be here in order to facilitate this for the WA government,” she said.
