Residents in Brisbane's west who have been cut off from essential services for three days following major flooding have started receiving emergency food and medicine supplies by helicopter.
Mt Crosby, Karana Downs, Moggill, Bellbowrie, Pullenvale and Anstead were isolated after the Brisbane River hit major flood levels following torrential rain over the weekend.
Moggill Road has reopened to traffic, but residents have reported waiting up to an hour to get through as people hoping to travel into and out of the area continue to arrive.
Karana Downs resident Vicky Mills said her local community has been in a state of panic since floodwaters inundated Mt Crosby Road at Colleges Crossing.
"People were driving around trying to get to the local Foodworks, the only shop we could get to," she said.
"It was just really crazy out of nowhere. People were trying to get things and couldn't get them."
The mother of two said she started growing vegetables in her "pandemic garden" to help feed her family but was now harvesting food from several community gardens in nearby suburbs to help keep people fed.
When she realised her suburb was isolated and facing a shortage of food and supplies she started putting fresh vegetables and pantry items at the end of her driveway for her neighbours to take.
"We're just sort of sitting here waiting, hoping there's no medical emergency or the dog doesn't need a vet or anything like that, because there is nothing," Ms Mills said.
"We've just been abandoned here."
Ms Mills said she experienced a similar situation after the 2011 floods when Mt Crosby and Karana Downs were cut off for five days without power or phone reception.
This time she was prepared, but said plenty of people did not know where to turn for information and were scrambling to find essentials.
Medicine, food delivered by air
Member for Ryan, Julian Simmonds, said emergency medical supplies, nappies, baby food, and some fresh food was delivered by helicopter to Karana Downs and Moggill State School yesterday.
"We want everyone to know that we're coordinating for them through their SES commanders," Mr Simmonds said.
Member for Moggill, Christian Rowan, also confirmed urgent essential supplies had been delivered to Mount Crosby State School on Tuesday afternoon to support residents in Karana Downs, Mt Crosby, Kholo, and Lake Manchester.
Mr Simmonds said Australian Defence Force (ADF) assets were available if needed, but emergency services were currently relying on privately-owned and hospital-run helicopters while ADF resources were tied up with rescue operations at Lismore.
GP helps evacuate patients
Colleges Crossing Family Practice GP Dr Cathryn Hester said her team helped evacuate three heavily pregnant women and one other patient requiring urgent emergency care to hospitals in Brisbane and Ipswich yesterday.
There is no dedicated ambulance station in Karana Downs or Mt Crosby, however Dr Hester said a volunteer ambulance officer was working with her staff to provide medical care to the 6,000 people stuck in the area.
"The Ipswich Hospital has been able to bundle up some emergency medical supplies and that has been airlifted to us this morning, which has been a great help," Dr Hester said.
"They've been really trying hard to meet our needs in this area."
Dr Hester said she slept at the practice on Sunday night and has tried to keep her doors open for people seeking help.
As floodwaters recede, her main concern was people's exposure to contaminated mud and water left behind.
"Floodwater, which is about as clean as raw sewage, is very dangerous stuff to come in contact with.
"I'm hoping to not have to be treating people with amputations from floodwater infections in the coming months. I'd be really disappointed if that happened."
Pilots, businesses pitching in
Owners of Bellbowrie shop Go Dollars, Ted and Rachel Liu, could not get across the swollen Brisbane River on Monday when storms finally subsided but had staff on the other side willing to work.
Burpengary shop manager Rebecca Andrews said they figured out they could tape a store key to a drone and safely send it across the water to a waiting staff member.
Upon opening the shop, they were able to start supplying residents with essentials in less than an hour.
Moggill local James Robertson has been using his own helicopter for free to fly in medications and emergency supplies to stranded residents.
He told ABC Radio Brisbane he had also been flying in police officers responsible for the Queensland Mounted Police, whose stables are in Moggill.
Mr Robertson said he has his own registered hangar and landing pad for work, and had been using his helicopter for the past few days to help out.
Mr Robertson said he had been working with local authorities and the SES had contacted him to ask for help, knowing he had a helicopter.
He said he was not charging for his help, but was focused on helping people who needed to access medicine and groceries.
"People that I know have just contacted me and just asked," he said.
"I think everyone knows I'm the local with the helicopter. People keep calling me saying 'oh, I've just seen you fly over'.
"It's quite a tight-knit community, we all know each other and help out."
