Lone Driver Stranded in Simpson Desert

A South Australian man has been airlifted out of the Munga-Thirri Simpson Desert after five days stranded without phone service as rising floodwaters threatened to swamp his vehicle. Tony Woolford, 66 from Adelaide was evacuated by helicopter to Birdsville on Wednesday 26th March, in a stable condition and in high spirits. “It’s been quite an adventure,” he said.

Heavy rainfall across western and south-west Queensland cut off outback towns, including Birdsville. Mr Woolford intended to spend three days exploring the Madigan Line, a popular 4WD track, but heavy rain on Saturday made driving impossible.

He said his situation was “Quite worrying when it dawned on me. I tried to proceed the next morning, only got another nine kilometres down the track and there was more rain.” On Sunday afternoon, Birdsville authorities received word travellers were stranded in the desert as tracks turned to mud. Two other groups eventually reached their destination or returned to Birdsville, but Mr Woolford was out of rescuers’ reach. Mr Woolford said his high-frequency radio became a lifeline, with volunteer HF radio operators from VKS-737 Radio Network maintaining contact with him several times a day.

“The operators there were really good,” he said. “They kept my family in the loop and made arrangements for me to get back to safety. I did start to feel a bit hopeless but I was very grateful for my HF communications. Talking to those guys kept me sane.” He spent nights in his 4WD and explored the waterlogged desert when the rain allowed.

“There was this really heavy downpour and this channel filled up within 20 minutes,” he said. “It was overflowing and got to a point where it was a metre away from my car. I thought I would float away.”

Mr Woolford had food and water to last a week. “I also harvested rainwater in a tub I put under my awning.” he said. “I was able to collect 15 litres of drinking water in one night.” He thanked Birdsville authorities, the chopper pilot, VKS-737 radio operators and emergency services for coordinating his evacuation.

Don Rowlands, Ranger-in-Charge for Munga-Thirri Simpson Desert, helped coordinate the rescue with police and emergency services.
He said travellers should always check the weather forecast for warnings before driving into unknown terrain. “Tony’s been coming here for the last 20 years and this time he just made the mistake of not checking the weather forecast before departing from Birdsville.”

Mr Rowlands said Mr Woolford’s car would not be retrieved for at least a month. “The rivers are coming down and even once the roads dry up, the flood will be here and we still won’t be able to get out,” he said.

Mr Woolford said he did check the weather forecast before his trip, but underestimated how heavy the falls would be. He said, despite spending more time in the desert than he planned, it wouldn’t stop his love of traversing the outback.

“As soon as conditions permit, I’ll get back up here and retrieve my car,” he said. “Then the holiday will continue.”

Note: Mr. Woolford only intended travelling the eastern flank of the Madigan Line on this journey, having previously covered other parts of the Line in earlier trips.

Here is an extended ABC South Australia and Broken Hill Interview in regard to the greater event, presented by Narelle Graham. It runs for 21 minutes: