Back-to-back disasters delay outback pub reopening
An ex-cyclone first stopped Koss Siwers from reopening his outback pub – now floodwaters after record rainfall have postponed his plans.
Every March, Koss Siwers reopens the outback Adavale Pub for tourists.
But after receiving pictures of Queensland’s inundated southwest, a late April launch date might be more realistic for his beloved Adavale Pub.
Siwers would usually have already completed the 10-hour drive to Adavale from his other residence in Brisbane to reopen the remote hotel, which he runs from March to October.
The Adavale Pub has been inundated and the outback town’s population of 30 has been evacuated. Photo: Stephen Cowley/AAP
However, ex-tropical cyclone Alfred’s arrival in southeast Queensland in March ensured a dramatic change of plan.
Weeks later, Siwers was again ready to hit the road – until he saw pictures of the Adavale Pub sent online by his Adavale neighbours.
Floodwaters were up to the hotel’s floorboards – and rising.
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“Here I was in Brisbane and then this bloody cyclone came, so I thought ‘gees I better stay’ because I was a bit concerned about the property and the neighbours,” Mr Siwers said.
“I was just about ready to go on Saturday, now this flooding has happened in a flash – it’s bloody unbelievable.”
The pictures of an inundated Adavale were sent to Siwers before the outback town’s entire population of about 30 was evacuated.
Downpours of up to 400mm have hit the state’s central and southwest, triggering widespread flooding.
The wet weather has cut roads, isolated communities and disrupted telecommunications across inland Queensland.
About 500mm had been recorded within a week at Adavale’s neighbour Quilpie, representing a year’s worth of rain.
“I will have to wait for the water to go down. Usually, it takes about a week,” Siwers said of his Adavale Pub plans.
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“I was packing up ready to go back with stock, ready to open the pub again.
“Now it looks like all the wet has moved out west.”
The wet will soon be heading Siwers’ way again as he bunkers down in Brisbane.
Premier David Crisafulli said the government’s attention will turn to affected primary producers when the flooding and rain subsides.
“There’ll be significant livestock loss,” he told ABC TV on Friday.
“You’re dealing with hundreds of thousands of acres that is underwater and significant loss which has a big economic flows through the communities.”
Heavy rain is set to move southeast in the coming days, bringing downpours and possible flooding as far south as northern and eastern NSW.
Weeks after Alfred battered the southeast, sandbagging sites are reopening around Brisbane and the Gold Coast.
The wet weather is set to move south into northern inland and central NSW before tracking east by Saturday.
“It’s likely to be the wettest day for many of our population centres,” the Bureau of Meteorology’s Miriam Bradbury said.
Population centres set to get wet include Brisbane, the Sunshine Coast and Gold Coast in Queensland and NSW’s Sydney, Wollongong, Newcastle and south coast.
