Camping nightmare

Big wet forces mass evacuation

A CAMPER has described his desperate race against the clock as he rushed to escape a rapidly flooding campsite in the Far North.

Backpacker Matthew Wells, from Coffs Harbour in NSW, was one of 50 campers evacuated from Greenpatch campground in Gordonvale on Tuesday night as 200mm of rain dumped on parts of the region.

He said the stressful experience of escaping the camping area was compounded when heavy rain caused an awning on his van to snap off, immobilising the vehicle as evacuation sirens sounded across the grounds.

“It took everyone 20 minutes to evacuate; it took me over half an hour. Just before the alarm sounded, my awning snapped and bent and I couldn’t put it back in,” Mr Wells said.

“It was all smashed and broken. I shoved it the best I could.”

Mr Wells said he initially became concerned when water levels in the creek began to rise.

He said he would keep getting up every few minutes with an umbrella to see what he should do.

“I was freaking out a bit, because I didn’t want to go to sleep, as I was worried I would wake up halfway down the street,” Mr Wells said.

Following the evacuation, Mr Wells said he had to sleep in his van on the side of the road for the rest of the night.

The Greenpatch campground has closed multiple times in the past because of flooding.

Division 1 Councillor Brett Moller said the council had done a lot of work to improve safety outcomes for the campsite.

“We have installed water level gauges and siren alarms to warn of rising river and creek levels.” Cr Moller said.

“There have now been three successful evacuations at Greenpatch since the campground was constructed and opened.”

The campground reopened in January with these safeguards put in place to reduce the risk of flash flooding.

Cr Moller said it was the campers’ choice to camp there.

“There are warning signs and evacuation plans in place and campers make their own assessment of the risks in choosing to camp or not camp,” Cr Moller said.