Floods fear
Reporter: Helen Korn
Date published: 12 January 2011
Rugby star Becky caught up in Oz disaster
OLDHAM sport star Becky Jones is caught up in what Australians are calling an “inland tsunami”.
The 26-year-old England rugby league international, who lives in Toowoomba, Queensland, is stranded in her house after flash floods hit the town but has volunteered to help others escape their homes.
When Becky’s anxious dad, former world champion wrestler Marty Jones, spoke to her last night on the phone, evacuation bells started ringing and she was cut off. But the licencee of the Angel pub in Royton, was relieved when a text message came through at 4am today from her friend’s phone — her only way of contact — but it read that things were “not good” and that she had lost her car and truck down the “river”.
Becky said because she is fit and young she has been asked to help the elderly get aboard emergency rescue boats.
Back in 2003, Becky narrowly escaped bushfires which raged through Canberra.
Becky has recently bought a plot of land and was putting the final touches to her new home but it’s now flooded on the bottom floor.
She asked her father if he had seen the floods and the people standing on top of their roofs on Sky News, before telling him: “I live a minute away from there.”
Marty said: “She said the waters were rising fast and there were boats everywhere. Obviously I’m worried because I’ve seen all the coverage of cars flowing down the streets on the TV.
“She’s at the bottom of the Wivenhoe Dam which holds all the water for Brisbane so basically, if that bursts, they’ve all had it.
“All the water is contaminated and is 69ft high and it has risen 24 inches in 14 hours and is expected to peak this afternoon. She’s also worried about all the snakes. When she was in the bushfires she was OK so hopefully she will be now.”
He said that all of her family, friends and regulars at The Angel are thinking about her.
So far Queensland’s floods have claimed 22 lives and more than 80 people have been reported as missing.
Queensland residents have been told to head down to Brisbane — but even the Brisbane River has burst its banks in several places and waters are expected to rise by up to 52ft.
