Geon and PIAA on evacuation alert as Brisbane River surges

Geon’s Eagle Farm site was evacuated yesterday afternoon as floodwaters began to encroach on the riverside facility. Site manager Anthony Bourke told ProPrint that he has also cancelled today’s afternoon and evening shifts so staff can leave the flood area before the king tide hits at around 2.30pm.

Bourke said the company was currently operating with a skeleton workforce, who will be sent home in the next few hours to get home before any possible road closures.

“We’re mostly worried about access to the site. It didn’t flood here in 1974, and based on the flood maps they’ve released, we should be okay,” he said.

The offices at the site are most likely to be reached by floodwaters, rather than the factory.

Bourke said that, with floodwaters expected to peak in the coming days as dam levels reach bursting point, he is more concerned about tomorrow than today.

“We’d need a good three metres to cause us some concern,” he said.

But the workforce had been unable to protect the site because “sandbags are at a premium at the moment”.

This echoes comments from SOS director Michael Schulz, who told ProPrint that the company’s Brisbane-based joint venture, CPX Printing & Logistics, had been looking for sandbags yesterday. “They’re only allowed to take three at a time.”

Meanwhile, the Printing Industries office in the suburb of Newmarket is also preparing for the worst. David Hoban is one of two staff currently at the site moving items from the office’s lower level to the upper level.

“If the forecasted weather comes about, we’ll be about one metre underwater. We’re in a part of Newmarket where there has been flooding, particularly when there’s a very high tide in Breakfast Creek,” he said.

However, he emphasised that the association was still able to offer any assistance to printers who contacted them.

Meanwhile, ABC Printing in Milton was said to have been breached by floodwaters, though the company’s phone line was not connecting when tried by ProPrint. Milton is one of the suburbs that has been hit hardest so far by the rising river.

Bernie Hockings, from vendor G2 Solutions, told ProPrint: “Whatever you hear, believe it – the water is running faster than I’ve ever seen it. We’ve had to sandbag our office (pictured) and move all the office gear up off the floor.”

He added that “we are hopeful the water will not cause us too much drama” but said it had caused problems for a number of local printers, including ABC and Geon.

Other major Brisbane printers such as Fergies Print & Mail, Craft Inprint, and Go Print all said they hadn’t been affected.

Go Print operations manager Michael Rowe told ProPrint that the government-owned printer was also operating with a skeleton staff while many employees attend to their own homes.

He added that the company had moved some of its stored files up from the basement level, and that it was closely monitoring announcements from Energex, which has said that it may shut down certain electricity substations as the situation develops.

“We have a substation under our building, but so far they’ve left it alone,” he said.

Rowe said the printer has government-designed ‘disaster management plans’ but that so far these haven’t had to be enacted.

Donations to the Queensland Flood Relief Appeal can be made here.

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