iscover
The Australian Defence Force has concluded its support mission for Tropical Cyclone Trevor in the Northern Territory, after successfully contributing to Australia’s largest ever pre-cyclone evacuation.
More than 950 residents were transported out of Groote Eylandt and McArthur River Mine airfield on three Royal Australian Air Force C-130J Hercules transport aircraft over three days.
ADF personnel also helped with the establishment of evacuation centres in Katherine and Darwin for hundreds of evacuees.
“The proactive decision of the Northern Territory government to declare a state of emergency early on allowed us to co-ordinate with emergency services and other agencies to move people from vulnerable locations,” Commander 1st Brigade Brigadier Matt Pearse said.
“It has been an honour to support our community. The evacuees have shown remarkable resilience over the past week.”
BRIG Pearse commanded the ADF response, and added that the "co-ordination effort relied on contributions from multiple agencies led by the Northern Territory Emergency Services and supported by Emergency Management Australia".
In the three days following the cyclone, ADF aircraft transported 451 residents back to their local communities safely.
Defence has also assisted in Western Australia in the wake of Tropical Cyclone Veronica, assisting WA Police with the evacuation of 21 civilians from an isolated community near Port Headland that was at risk of rising flood waters.
Want to see more stories from trusted news sources?
Make Defence Connect a preferred news source on Google.
Click here to add Defence Connect as a preferred news source.
