THREE young Victorians en route to Schoolies’ Week were plucked to safety after their Toyota HiLux was swept off a flooded causeway between Narrabri and Moree early Friday morning.
Rhys Warren, Ben Ross and Lachie McKellar had been led astray by their GPS navigator while attempting a short cut to Byron Bay.
Their journey came to a halt when they failed to negotiate a causeway across the flooded Tyconnah Creek near Terry Hie Hie.
Ben contacted emergency services personnel at Moree just after midnight.
He was calling from the roof of the stricken vehicle which had drifted downstream from the Binniguy Rd.
Fast rising floodwaters had lifted the back wheels of the truck – promoted as unbreakable by its makers – off the ground.
Rhys Warren, the owner and driver of the Toyota, said he had been led badly astray by his GPS navigator.
“I wanted to stay on the highway,” Rhys said.
He said the unit kept on directing him onto obscure dirt roads.
“We were heading up to Byron Bay to meet some mates for a holiday. It was raining heavily and there was a lightning storm.
“We passed through about 20 river crossings. When we got to the last one we were about halfway through.
“I thought it was shallow but it dropped really quickly and then we just got swept away in the current.”
Rhys said as the HiLux was drifting down the river he had tried to make it to the bank.
“I tried to stop it on higher ground but it just wouldn’t grip,” he said.
By this time Ben and Lachie had climbed onto the roof.
“The phone had one bar of reception and two bars of battery,” Ben said.
“We also managed to save a torch, which we used to show the emergency services where we were.”
“We saved the navigator from water damage. This helped us give the emergency guys our co-ordinates,” Rhys said.
Police, paramedics, the Volunteer Rescue Association and the State Emergency Services located Lachie, Ben and Rhys on top of the truck 150m from the road.
They had to walk through flood waters by torchlight to reach the stranded trio.
Moree SES unit controller Tim Wheeler said rescue crews had used ropes to pull the young men from the vehicle.
“The water was about waist height and running very quickly. The operation took about half an hour.”
The three were taken to Moree Hospital for a quick check up.
“About 1am police took us back to a motel where we stayed for the night,” Ben said.
“I’m actually really angry. I’m walking around Moree with no shirt, no shoes, no socks. Just pants, and they’re wet.”
Rhys said he looked forward to finding out what would happen to his HiLux.
“I have to ring the insurance company. The car is in the middle of nowhere.”
Asked if he had advice for other young travellers, Rhys said “don’t use a navigator” and “stick to main roads”.
Ben said the journey had been doomed from the start.
“On the first day we ran out of fuel, on the second we got bogged and on the third we got caught in the lightning and floated down the river,” he said.
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