Inside the major clean-up of a river city struck by flood

Clean-up of damaged boats, pontoons and debris on Bundaberg's flood-ravaged Burnett River Sun 21 Jun 2026 at 10:32am A major recovery effort of flood-ravaged boats and businesses is underway in Bundaberg three months after the region was struck by flooding. The Burnett River was left littered with debris and sunken boats following the weather event in March, with Maritime Safety Queensland (MSQ) deeming about 40 vessels damaged or destroyed. MSQ general manager Kell Dillon said salvage work was ongoing, with boats discovered in obscure places, including cane paddocks, stuck on rock walls and washed up on remote beaches. "Each of them requires quite a detailed recovery plan, individualised for that particular vessel, and they can certainly be quite challenging, some of them, to remove from where they are," he said. "Thirty-five have now been removed and five are in the process of removal." There were 26 damaged or missing pontoons, including one swept more than 110 kilometres away to Curtis Island near Gladstone. "We've found some of them in the outer reef islands and some have disappeared entirely, which, of course, is a bit of a worry because they can turn up in shipping channels," Mr Dillon said. Businesses seeking support Linda Ashworth, who owns a boat yard on the Burnett River in the centre of the city, said she was "still trying to recover" from the disaster that swept away her livelihood. "We lost our office, we lost everything in our 40-foot container, we lost all our equipment, all our tools," she said. "Our sling trailer ended up in the slipway, our cat trailer ended up upside down in the slipway, the cradle was damaged by another boat." Ms Ashworth estimated the damage bill was about $200,000. She took out a $100,000 loan to replace some equipment and machinery, but feared her business would not survive without additional help. Ms Ashworth said she was in the process of applying for a small business disaster recovery grant through the Queensland Rural and Industry Development Authority (QRIDA), which is jointly funded by the Australian and Queensland governments. QRIDA confirmed 15 small business grant applications had already been approved in the Bundaberg region, totalling about $165,500, with another 17 applications still in progress. Eligible small business owners have until January 15, 2027, to apply for the grants. Ms Ashworth said she felt overwhelmed because her business continued to be affected by a loss of income from boat owners hesitant to return to the river and the prospect of being hit with another flood in the future. "Yeah, it's very stressful," she said. "It makes me not want to replace things because I don't know if the floods will come again between January and March and I'll lose everything again." Other businesses have resumed operations, including the Port of Bundaberg. Gladstone Ports Corporation chief executive Andrew Johnson said the port was closed to all shipping from March 10 and reopened a month later, following hydrographic surveys and dredging work carried out in the shipping channel. "By April 15, depths were sufficient for a sugar ship to load an export cargo headed for Japan," he said. Wrecked boats remain Edward Rumsey, a volunteer from Burnett River Clean, said it could take another six months before the waterway was completely clear, due to the complexity of trying to access the remaining wrecked vessels. Two boats washed up across from the Fairymead boat ramp, which Mr Rumsey said was a protected mangrove and sandfly habitat. "I don't think that they can get a crane big enough to lift them … and to reach out to the water," he said. "They'll have to be dug out and floated out." Mr Dillon said MSQ salvage crews were "spread pretty thin", with recovery efforts stretching from Bundaberg to northern Queensland, and another 27 vessels that required removal after Cyclone Koji in January. The cost of recovery is the responsibility of the owners and varies from tens of thousands of dollars to hundreds of thousands. But taxpayers may be required to foot the bill. "We will give orders to people to remove their vessels, and if they can't or won't, then in the interest of navigation, safety, and/or the environment, we'll move in and remove them ourselves," Mr Dillon said. "But we do reserve the right to recoup those costs from the owners, including through the courts if required."