AS THE saying goes, ‘many hands make light work’, and while the clean-up from storms and relentless rain over the past weeks may not necessarily be “light” work, with the help of selfless volunteers such as Landsborough’s Rob Cullen, the clean up across the region is forging ahead.
As an unforgettable storm tore through Landsborough and Beerwah earlier this month, Rachel Thomson, of Landsborough’s Rocky Creek Camp shared the story of the impact it had on their property (see story page 6); across the road, her parents Rob and Kim Cullen had a similar experience at their own home, but as Rachel explained is true to the strength of his character, Rob’s property would have to wait.
“It was about 4am that Dad had phoned to make sure we were all okay, and as I was on the phone to him, the roof of their house caved in,” Rachel shared. “I sent my husband Duncan over to help and it took him 10 minutes to make the 150 metre walk to their property… the roads were impassable.”
With roof tarped and family all okay, Rachel explained Rob spent the next two days volunteering with the RFS in clean-up efforts, before spending all day Saturday, along with some 50 volunteers, helping with the clean-up at Rocky Creek Camp. This came after he was one of the first to put up his hand to help out in the week preceding as intense rain caused major flooding across the south east region. Along with a team of RFS volunteers, Rob was deployed to help with the flooding crisis in Gympie, spending long days helping wherever he was needed.
Rob, who as well as working full time volunteers for the Landsborough Rural Fire Brigade, and is the regional commissioner for Scouts Queensland Suncoast region.
“I’m incredibly proud of my Dad, it’s hard to put into words,” shared Rachel. “After 31 years he’s still my hero and an incredible role model to my boys.”
Rob is no doubt a great example for future scouts.
Main image: Landsborough RFS