Operation Flood Assist daily briefing

MAJOR GENERAL DAVID THOMAE: No reporters, just the cameras. Ready to go? Good morning. Thank you for joining me here today. My name is Major General David Thomae, I'm Commander of Joint Taskforce 629, that's the headquarters that coordinates the support to the New South Wales and Queensland governments as part of Operation Flood Assist. As of today, the task force is over 7000 people. In northern New South Wales we have over 4000 people supporting those affected communities. The ADF is working closely with the emergency services police and the local community in those affected areas. In Southeast Queensland, we have around 1600 people supporting the Queensland government's response to the floods. And today the US Navy ship will be arriving. USS Frank Cable will arrive today into Brisbane and from tomorrow, 50 sailors from that ship will support the Queensland community in response to the floods.

Today, there are nine helicopters in operation across both New South Wales and Queensland. Those helicopters have conducted over 119 missions and about 280 hours of flight. In Brisbane, as I described, the Royal Australian Naval Clearance Diving Team and hydrographic ships continue to clear the Brisbane Port and the Brisbane River. In northern New South Wales, particularly in the Lismore government area. Our heavy plant operators continue to clear the debris and restore access to services. An example of that is over the weekend, our engineers supported the Nimbin community to clear their Nimbin Weir to support access to water for the Nimbin community. Our teams are transporting local government officials and New South Wales Police to search for missing persons in northern New South Wales. These are just a handful of examples of how the ADF is supporting the community affected by this club.

We understand that people are still hurting arising from this devastating event and the Australian Defence Force will continue to support the Australian community as we move forward through this recovery phase into the coming weeks. I'm immensely proud of all of the work being undertaken by the sailors, soldiers and aviators of the Australian Defence Force. The work they are doing is difficult and dirty and I thank them for all of their efforts to support the Australian community. Thank you.

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