Adam Carey
A 19-YEAR-OLD man from Townsville has been charged with dangerous driving following the death of a 62-year-old man, believed to be from Ballarat, in the Queensland floods.
The teenager allegedly tried to drive his car, with two passengers, over a flooded causeway on the Aramac-Torrens Creek Road in central Queensland late on Sunday night when the vehicle was swept into fast-flowing waters. Police believe the road was marked closed.
Police divers recovered the body of the 62-year-old man in Cornish Creek on Wednesday. The driver and another man, 40, were taken to Barcaldine Hospital in a state of shock.
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The driver is due to appear in the Longreach Magistrates Court on February 8.
Of the 10 flood-related deaths in Queensland, five have resulted from people trying to drive across flooded roads.
There have also been more than 100 rescues involving people who have driven into floodwater in the past three weeks – an average of almost five a day – according to the Department of Community Safety.
Police and emergency services have issued repeated warnings not to drive into floodwater. ”Staying out of flood waters is crucial. People often underestimate the danger, thinking they can make it through. Sadly, this is not a reality,” Queensland Fire and Rescue Services Commissioner Lee Johnson said this week.
”Floodwaters can be lethal and their currents can be deceptive. What appears to be a shallow, placid body of water can turn into a raging floodway in seconds. When this happens, vehicles are easily swept away.”
Police, indicating their increasing exasperation, issued a curt public statement yesterday: ”Taking up time of emergency services by going into floodwaters diverts resources from people who need them.”
The minister appointed to head the Gillard government’s flood response, Queensland senator Joe Ludwig, yesterday echoed the warnings. ”You’ve got to listen to the advice of police and emergency services.
On New Year’s Day, a group travelling in two cars was swept off the road while trying to cross the Leichardt River.
A 41-year-old woman from Mount Isa drowned, while three adults and five children survived.
A man also drowned in Nebo, near Mackay, on December 7 when his car was swallowed by floodwaters. On December 3, police search crews using sonar located the body of 81-year-old Alan William Kane inside his submerged ute near Rockhampton. The car had been swept off a flooded causeway.
On November 30, the body of Sydney woman Kay Joy, 55, was found inside a submerged car after it was also washed off a flooded causeway.
Source: www.theage.com.au
