Six Australian Defence Force personnel deployed to assist during storms and flooding caused by ex-tropical cyclone Alfred were seriously injured when two military trucks rolled on Saturday.
In total, thirteen personnel sustained injuries and were being treated in local hospitals, NSW Police said on Sunday.
One truck left the roadway and rolled several times into a paddock and another one tipped onto its side attempting to avoid the first vehicle at around 5pm.
The troops came from the Second Combat Engineer Regiment and the Seventh Service Support Battalion, all part of the Seventh Brigade based at Gallipoli Barracks in Brisbane.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said there were 32 soldiers on board the two trucks, and six had sustained serious injuries.
“Everyone at the scene did their best to look after their mates,” he told reporters on Sunday.
“For the extraordinary members of the Australian Defences Forces there are no easy days, everyday could bring danger, everyday carries risk and yet they step up and face them for us, the Australian people.”
“These men and women are heroes who were on their way to help people in need. They were doing this at a time when some of their own families were bearing the brunt of Alfred,” Albanese said.
Beach erosion on the Gold Coast on Saturday. Source: AAP / Dave Hunt
Defence Minister Richard Marles said the soldiers came from the 7th Brigade at the Gallipoli Barracks in Brisbane.
He also fended off questions about the army’s capabilities in natural disaster situations.
“As we look forward in this natural disaster, airlift capability and personnel fundamentally doing doorknocking, everyone stepping in and helping is something that in the here and now, we will be providing,” he said.
The prime minister also reiterated warnings of the dangers of the ongoing natural disaster referring to the death of a 61-year-old NSW man swept away by flood waters near Dorrigo in the state’s north.
More rainfall is expected to lash southeast Queensland and northern NSW on Sunday.
Lismore residents, who experienced the devastating 2022 floods, are anxiously monitoring flood levee levels that are expected to hold steady as the system subsides in severity.
