A baby born during a six-day rain storm in North Queensland that isolated her first-time mother from the nearest hospital has finally made her way to the maternity ward.
Hayley Anne Gajda came a week earlier than her due date, and was born on Tuesday morning in a heartwarming display of community strength and resourcefulness.
An ambulance was able to get through the hazardous Eungella Range, 92 kilometres west of Mackay, for the first time Thursday afternoon to take baby Hayley and her mother Angel McKay to hospital.
The torrential downpour, which drenched the valley below Eungella with more than a metre of rain in a week, caused landslips along the main road into town, with some boulders estimated to weigh between 10 and 20 tonnes.
No-one has been able to get in or out of the township for several days and concerns have been raised over re-supply issues.
Hayley’s father Dean Gajda said while they had been assured baby Hayley was happy and healthy from the doctors and nurses who helped deliver her, finally getting her to hospital was a huge relief.
Mr Gadja said both he and Angel were incredibly grateful to their community.
“[They] generously helped us and just dropped what they were doing to come and help Haley get delivered,” he said.
Emergency services can now access Eungella.(Supplied: QAS)
“I’m grateful for the locals who helped us get out, the council who came up and cleared a pathway for the emergency services to take us here, our local ambos, they’re just amazing.”
‘Very messy’
While he said he was incredibly appreciative to get his baby to hospital, he could understand why the road remained closed to the general public.
“If it wasn’t for Haley and if it wasn’t for the emergency services, I still wouldn’t recommend going up and down that range,” he said.
“It is very messy and there’s a lot more wrong with it than what we thought could have been.”
Eungella dairy farmer Dale Fortescue stands beside a giant boulder that fell during the weather event.(Facebook: Eungelladale Dairy)
Mackay mayor Greg Williamson said while the pass is open for emergency and resupply vehicles it remains closed to the general public.
He said the debris still had to be cleared and geotech needed to assess the entire range before it can fully reopen.
Drone footage shows the amount of damage to the Eungella Range Road following a week of heavy rain.(Supplied: Mackay Regional Council)
“There’s no chance of getting past the roadblocks at the bottom,” Cr Williamson said.
“There were some people trying to walk down there at the bottom but you can’t do that, it’s too unsafe. There is a heck of a lot of debris, especially in three particular places.”
He said the back route could be accessible via four-wheel-drive once the Isaac Regional Council confirmed their portion of the road was safe.
A second resupply will be heading up the mountain early Friday morning.
Source: abc.net.au
