As a preferred supplier for the Richmond Shire Council's Local Disaster Management Group, it usually means we run a few pharmaceuticals out to people in need, or run someone out to their property.
When you're 'stood up' though, like we were last February, there's a significant increase in activity.
We (Fox Helicopter Services) supported the disaster management group with upwards of a dozen pilots and machines for 16 days.
The proudest thing for me was that all of us got through accident-free.
They were trying conditions and it was a pretty ordinary scenario to be flying in. We're all bush pilots, we all had a different variety of jobs to do. They came from central Queensland, down to the Sunnie Coast, around North Queensland.
I wouldn't have a clue the total hours flown but it reflects well on our capabilities. It was a real credit to them.
The community must also be recognised, for the washing they got done, the meals provided, the beds made, everything.
It was a whole of community response really, we were just the ones at the pointy end delivering it.
We've had a busy year since then, business-wise. The country was a mixed bag, some places barely got through one round of mustering.
Now there's been some rain, I think we'll see restocking get underway.
Last year, people just didn't have anything - yards, tanks, troughs, they were all washed away.
Ten inches now will do more good than the 30 inches some of them had last year - the ground packed down hard after the flood, it was like cement.
We had enough work on. There's a significant amount of breeders north of where we are at Richmond, in that sandy country.
Saying that, the people at Julia Creek lost not only breeders but sale cattle.
The word 'resilience' gets used too much but people everywhere just kicked straight back into gear.
Some of them may have taken agistment - there were plenty of drought-stricken people coming around.
We got a good amount of work from government departments as a result of the flooding, survey mapping of riparian areas where damage may have been, environmental sediment testing where the freight train rollover was, that sort of thing.
We hired a junior guy just after the event, and he's still with us. We've got the same crew here at Richmond, everyone's happy.
The point to make is, primary production is the golden goose. If you don't look after your producers, nothing will flow on to the rest of us.
I got a credit card from Rockhampton Rotary and thought, I don't need this, but then I thought, I can spend it in a little place like Torrens Creek, and that helps them.
We weren't in line for any government money ourselves, but the support for producers helped us pay our bills. The Richmond shire honoured their commitment through category D to us; that's how responsible management should work.
