The Rotary Club of Mount Isa South West is shining a light on one of the lesser known aspects of the North’s big wet and the flooding.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
People across the region have been getting used to empty supermarket shelves as supplies fail to make their destination on flooded roads.
But what about the truckies already on the road and trying to get to their destinations on the east coast?
Some like the Woolies truck in McKinlay gave away its produce to local to avoid it going off.
More good deeds are taking place in Mount Isa where about 20 truckies have been forced to pull stumps at the Shell truckstop while waiting for the rains to ease and the Landsborough and Flinders Highways to reopen.
And that’s where Rotary come in, feeding them each night at the truck stop canteen.
Rotary Club of Mount Isa South West president Margaret Bishop said they felt for the truckies’ predicament
“You see there is nothing on the shelves and you realise how much work they do,” she said. “So we said let’s see what we can do for them. It’s the Rotary spirit.”
The Rotary ladies have been coming down every night with a hot meal which is greatly appreciated.
“It’s a big thing for us,” truckie Leon from Bundaberg said. “Rotary, mate, their blood is worth bottling.”
Ken, a truckie from Rockhampton had been there since Wednesday (January 30) was philosophical about the layover. “We know the country needs rain,” he said.
Wayne, a truckie with Townsville Logistics, said he had been stuck in town since Friday (February 1).
“We’ve just been sitting and waiting for the floods to end,” Wayne said.
“We’ve been living here and the girls have been feeding us each night.
“The truck stop allows us to use the canteen as a lunch room and we watch TV here and sleep in our trucks.”
While you are here subscribe to our weekly email delivered to your inbox at 6am every Friday.
Derek Barry
Editor of the North West Star Mount Isa since January 2016. Prior to that, an editor at several regional southern Queensland newspapers. Passionate about telling local stories. Comes with a strange accent to due an Irish accident of birth.
Editor of the North West Star Mount Isa since January 2016. Prior to that, an editor at several regional southern Queensland newspapers. Passionate about telling local stories. Comes with a strange accent to due an Irish accident of birth.
