Townsville Woman’s Solution for Evacuations – Hit the Road

Angela lives in Townsville’s Railway Estate with her two beloved labradors. Railway Estate is just one Townsville area hit so regularly by flooding that residents have all but given up. After the 2019 floods, Angela moved her whole life up to the second floor of her home and then watched as her insurance premiums rose as dramatically as the waters.

In 2025, as she huddled upstairs with her two dogs, the SES urged her to evacuate, leaving the dogs behind. When you’re evacuated, there’s no room for pets and many panic and perish in the stormwaters.

So, faced with unaffordable insurance premiums and plummeting property values, Angela took the unusual step of planning to abandon ship.

Angela’s approach? She purchased industrial pumps and a plethora of storm proofing materials to secure her home. Then, she loads her two dogs into a newly purchased offroad caravan and makes for higher ground.

“The evacuation places don’t allow dogs and they’re frankly, a very uncomfortable stay. The caravan parks and other accommodation further south or inland, out of the path of the floods are inevitably booked solid. So, I bought myself an offroad caravan, and when the weather warnings start, I simply lock down the property, load the dogs in and get out of harm’s way.”

Offroad caravans allow for maneuvering through tougher mountain terrain, where regular caravans cannot.  This ensures there’s always somewhere for Angela and her labs to wait out the storm.

“I’m very lucky that my neighbours have their own plan. They will flip the pump switch for me before they evacuate, and in turn, I’ll give them full access to a pump during the clean-up. I even bought a van with extra bunks – so their dogs can join me too!”

In Townsville, it’s come to this, with neighbourhoods being forced to evacuate regularly, not just during cyclones, but even milder rain events. Townsville’s drainage system has long been a sore point for residents with frequent calls for council to address the ongoing issue.  Council has conducted new flood studies and mapping, but residents argue that more action needs to be taken.