As Scenic Rim residents prepare for what is predicted will be a cyclone event not seen since 1974, local SES volunteers are struggling to keep up with demand for sandbags.
Beaudesert SES group leader Margaret Brown said people had become more frantic since the group began providing free sandbags at 3pm on 3 March.
Ms Brown said they had arrived at the Beaudesert early on Wednesday morning to find all the sand had been taken overnight.
“There were cars everywhere when we got here and I’ve had to ask people to come back when we can get Council to deliver more sand,” she said.
“We’ve had people taking the empty bags too, so now we’ve had to get more sent from Townsville.
“We’ve had to keep an eye on our shovels and we’re also asking people not to overfill the bags with sand. I’ve had to ask people to empty some of the sand out of their bags because they have to be able to lay flat and they’re useless if they’re too full.”
Ms Brown said the SES had resorted to keeping empty bags inside the shed, particularly so they could deliver sandbags to elderly or vulnerable residents who were unable to collect them in person.
A sign at the SES shed asking people to take only what they need seemed to go unnoticed.
“We have been through more than 1,000 sandbags, we’ve had sand in three lots of five cubic metres dropped here and we had about three cubic metres here overnight. It’s all gone,” said Ms Brown.
Ms Brown said SES members had been working non-stop for days to help people wanting to protect their homes against flooding.
“The message is, don’t be greedy,” she said.
“Think of other people, don’t take more than you need and be aware that if you overfill the sandbags because they’re just not going to seal properly.”
