REDLAND State Emergency Service (SES) has welcomed a new valuable member, a brand new 5.95 metre flood response boat.
The boat was added to the Redland SES fleet in light of the Queensland Government response to the Queensland Flood Commission's initial report.
Equipped with a 115 horse power engine, and built to carry up to a tonne, the vessel will be based at the new Redland Bay SES Group.
Redland SES local controller Tom Short said the boat had been built with hydraulic steering to make the handling and control of the vessel easier for the operator.
"The new vessel will respond to local flooding and storm surge events within the Redlands," Tom said.
"It has also been strategically placed to provide flood boat support to the surrounding cities of Redlands in times of need," he said.
Tom said Redlands SES had an existing boat that was recently used throughout flooded towns in south west Queensland.
"We sent six volunteers out and they were stationed at Roma. They're coming back today (Wednesday) and it was used well. The army has taken over with assisting people now," he said.
"The Redland SES is very lucky to have a number of very experienced flood boat operations volunteer trainers who form a regional training centre crew for the SES.
"It provides flood boat operations training for SES volunteers from units throughout southern Queensland. I'm sure it will help out flooded towns in the future."
Tom said the Redland City SES Unit had a dedicated group of 20 volunteer flood boat specialists who gave a lot of time to be ready to operate SES flood boats.
"The additional boat allows more volunteers to be trained in boat operations so the SES is ready to serve the people of Queensland in their times of need," he said.
The Redland SES has rapidly expanded in recent months and the new Redland Bay group had to be formed.
"We've just put 35 to 40 new members on our books so there was a need to split the members into other groups," Tom said.
"Members who live in Victoria Point, Mount Cotton and Redland Bay will be assigned to the Redland Bay group, although we still all meet at the Cleveland SES headquarters."
Redlands SES deputy controller Peter Gould said the boat was a "shiny new addition" to the fleet.
"It's a great boat, but we still haven't had the chance to get it out there just yet. There wasn't enough flooding a few weeks ago during the rain to get it out, and there is still a bit of paper work to get sorted first," he said.
Peter said the boat was equipped with specialist equipment and could be unloaded into the water in tricky situations.
"Since the Brisbane floods we've realised we can easily back the boat down an onramp to put it in the water, but this boat we can unload quite easily with all the specialist equipment on the trailer," he said.
"We're looking forward to using it."
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