Owners of Tirranna Springs Roadhouse are hoping for a strong tourism season in Outback Queensland as the floods recover

The stench of mud and dead animal carcasses, water as far as the eye can see, and thick layers of cooking oil and sludge covering the interior of a once bustling outback business.

That’s how Jil Wilson recalls the impact three floods in 11 months had on her family’s estate in north-west Queensland.

“This has all been absolutely devastating,” she said.

Mrs. Wilson, her husband Tim and their two young children have called the Tirranna Springs Roadhouse home since 2018.

They were looking for a fresh start and the place was in dire need of renovation.

“It had been closed for two years at that point,” Wilson said.

“We have really thrown ourselves into the place and done a lot of work to get it open in 2019.”

But after more than five years, repair work on the site, about 400 kilometers north of Mount Isa, has not stopped.

Unprecedented monsoon event

The damage was first caused in March 2023 when catastrophic flooding hit parts of the Gulf of Carpentaria.

Ms Wilson said the total cost of the repairs would be “in the millions”.

“We came up with a rough list of what happened, what was damaged and what needed to be replaced and it was about a $3 million saga,” she said.

The Wilson family bore the brunt of the flooding when the nearby Nicholson River rose to three meters and swept through their property, leaving them homeless for months.

“The water was so fierce and it swept everything away,” Wilson said.

Mrs. Wilson came up with a plan to rebuild the building weeks later, once the waters had receded.

“Everyone told us this was a one-off and we would never see it again, but I just wasn’t so sure,” she said.

‘So we lifted everything ten feet: the roadhouse, the motel, our house.

Blow after blow

Less than twelve months later, in February 2024, disaster struck again when heavy rain fell on already saturated river systems.

A 1.6 meter flood inundated plains that finally started to grow again. A third flood of 1.2 meters high followed two weeks later.

With almost $1 million already spent, Mrs. Wilson wonders if there is any point in trying to repair their property.

“All the gravel we put on the roads was washed onto the non-existent lawns. There was so much to clean up,” she said.

She said the biggest blow had come from the lack of financial support on all fronts.

“All insurance (on our home and business) was canceled, they considered it a flood and not an insurable rain event,” she said.

“After the first flood (in 2023), there was some assistance available through the Queensland Rural and Industry Development Authority (QRIDA) … a $250,000 loan that we had to pay back straight away.

A Queensland Reconstruction Authority spokesperson said a range of relief measures were activated for residents of the Burke Shire region following ex-tropical cyclone Kirrily in early 2024.

It included emergency assistance grants of $180 per person for eligible residents and structural assistance grants of up to $50,000 for uninsured means-tested owner-occupiers for the repair or replacement of disaster-damaged homes.

But Ms Wilson said the nature of the remote business means most operators in the region are not eligible for most packages.

“I don’t believe these grants are intended to help people in remote areas, but for working people and families in the city.”

Calling for tourists

The roadside restaurant’s doors have been closed since December 2022 as staff packed up in preparation for the wet season.

Despite a delayed start to the outback tourist season this year – after months of isolation due to flooding and road closures – the Wilson family has been working day and night to prepare for reopening to tourists for food and fuel next month.

Mrs Wilson said she hoped that now that the lights were back on and there were plenty of visitors inside, all the hard work would be worth it.

‘Come and support the local community, we really need it.

“It’s amazing to see the land after such wet years, in places where it isn’t drowning like it is at home. Everything that could grow is growing.”