Feature—Operation Larry Assist
Members of 3 Combat Support Services Batallion Health Company, carry medical supplies to a Black Hawk helicopter to assist the Innisfail community.
One of the many homes destroyed by Cyclone Larry in Innisfail, North Queensland.
The ADF launched Operation Larry Assist in response to a request for assistance from the Queensland Government. Cyclone Larry struck at 7am on 20 March 2006, and by midnight the first convoy from the Townsville-based 3rd Brigade was headed north on the Bruce Highway. Additional troops and engineers with heavy plant and equipment followed early the next morning. The convoys arrived in Innisfail before road access was cut by rapidly rising floodwaters.
The aim was to stabilise the situation until the civil authorities could consolidate and fully manage the disaster relief operation without Defence support. The priorities were to provide drinking water, food and shelter, and to clear debris which blocked roads and endangered the population.
A Joint Task Force Headquarters was established to operate with the Queensland State Disaster Coordination Centre. An air bridge into Innisfail was developed to allow Air Force Hercules and Caribou aircraft to deliver essential stores. In the first four days of Operation Larry Assist, 75,000 litres of bottled water and 15.5 tonnes of tarpaulins were delivered.
Military helicopters including Seahawk, Black Hawk, Iroquois and a heavy lift Chinook assisted with delivering supplies and assessing the extent of damage. In one airlift, a Chinook from Townsville's 5th Aviation Regiment helped to restore Innisfail's electricity substation by delivering a 32 metre-high transmission tower from Townsville. The helicopters also played a crucial role in the aero-medical evacuation of patients.
Army personnel, including the Townsville-based 3rd Brigade and the Cairns-based 51st Far North Queensland Regiment assisted across the region. Navy personnel from HMAS Cairns provided assistance to the Mareeba community, while several heavy landing craft were used to move equipment where roads were cut by flooding. Air Force personnel from units in Townsville, Amberley, Richmond and Williamtown transported supplies and cleared debris, and provided emergency support to the local population at Innisfail Showgrounds. Army medics assisted staff at Innisfail hospital while catering staff set up a field kitchen that prepared over 1,500 fresh meals for displaced locals.
An Air Force Caribou aircraft delivers troops and relief assistance supplies.
Soldiers from Townsville remove fallen trees in the streets of Innisfail.
The work by ADF personnel moving into devastated areas and carefully cleaning up debris and covering damaged roofs with tarpaulins generated a strong, positive reaction from local communities. As the initial emergency eased, schools became the focus for engineers who repaired roofing, boarded up broken windows, reconnected water services, cleared fallen trees and made powerlines safe.
Commanders on the ground reported that ADF personnel were incredibly focused and dedicated to the relief effort.
"The hardest thing was to get them to slow down and take a break".