A rescue helicopter pilot from the Sunshine Coast has emerged one of the heroes of Western Australia’s flood emergency, saving dozens of motorists trapped on “islands in the desert’’.
A tropical low dumped hundreds of millimetres of rain in the state’s north last week, leading to dramatic flooding.
The Northwest Coastal Highway near Minilya, about 120km north of Carnarvon and 1000km north of Perth, was engulfed and 41 people were isolated by the rising waters.
Enter experienced chopper pilot Michael Perren, who is from a prominent Alexandra Headland surf lifesaving family.
Mr Perren, 55, who honed his skills with Surf Life Saving Queensland’s Westpac Rescue Service – often responding to floods in Gympie – was relocated from Perth to Carnarvon to conduct extractions, ferry supplies and do welfare checks on affected communities.
He works as base manager for CHC Helicopter Services at Jandakot Airport and pilots the RAC Rescue Helicopter, a service run by the WA government.
“We usually respond to motor vehicle accidents, conduct inter-hospital transfers and do search-and-rescue missions so this was a bit different,’’ Mr Perren told sunshinecoastnews.com.au.
“Flooding in this part of WA is rare, but I have experienced it further north – where we have plucked people from rooftops in the past.
“Of course, there was often flooding in Gympie when I worked with Westpac Rescue in Queensland.’’
Mr Perren said the scene last Friday, when they flew to the aid of stranded motorists, was pretty confronting.
“The desert was a sea and there were these little bitumen islands with truckies stranded on them.
“We were able to land on safe parts of the road that were still intact. The truckies were pretty relieved to see us.’’
Mr Perren and his crew completed a series of missions, rescuing 35 people last Friday and taking them to Carnarvon.
He said some vehicles had been washed off the road and the highway severed in a number of places.
As well as truck drivers, they extracted two young women in an SUV who had been travelling to Broome to find work.
“They were all really lovely people and were very thankful that we had turned up,’’ Mr Perren said.
“The flooding has subsided and we have returned many of the truck drivers to their vehicles in recent days,’’ he said.
One of the drivers who was airlifted to safety by the RAC helicopter told local media that he had spent more than 36 hours stranded on a patch of dry land along with three others.
“It was basically Gilligan’s Island,” he said. “We were in the middle of nowhere.”
On Tuesday, Mr Perren flew WA Premier Mark McGowan over the area so he could inspect the damage to the highway.
He said he was looking forward to returning to the Sunshine Coast when he was able.
“I am so missing the Coast. I have a unit at Maroochydore and am looking forward to catching up with family and friends and heading down to Alex Surf Club.’’
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Mr Perren and wife Jennifer have four children: Jaiden, 18, and 14-year-old triplets Kalan, Ella and Rory. They are continuing his family’s proud tradition with lifesaving having joined Mandurah Surf Life Saving Club in WA.
His twin brother Phil is a well-known Coast businessman, former champion ski paddler and Life Member at Alex Surf Club and their older brother Greg is the club chaplain.
They also have a sister Gail, who lives at Tweed Heads, and two other brothers – Andrew, who also lives on the Coast and Russell, who lives at Currimundi after retiring from the RAAF.
Their late father Reg was a former Maroochydore SLSC member who moved to Alex in the late 1960s and was instrumental in setting up the club’s nipper program.
