SES hoping for quiet Christmas urges people to take care in our waterways

While unit commander Curtis Kishere has no desire to spoil people's fun, he said recent floods had changed the underwater landscape and that hidden dangers lurked beneath the surface.

SES level 3 volunteer Miranda Simmons, who is trained in swift water rescue, echoed Mr Kishere's concerns.

"We really want people to have fun during the holidays but we also want them to be careful around waterways, especially since they have changed now during the floods," she said.

"There are dangers under the water, like debris and shifting banks, that people won't realise are there."

Mr Kishere said he hoped he wouldn't be calling on Ms Simmons' special skills too often.

"Miranda is trained to get in the water if required and attend to cars caught in flood waters and get a person out of the vehicle," he said. "Hopefully we won't have to see that much this summer. All it takes is one person to drive through flood water and they don't realise how deep it is.

"One of the worst, constant scenarios is these young fellas on their P-plates driving jacked-up HiLuxes thinking they can drive through heavy waters and they get halfway and realise they can't.

"They can get stuck, they can get swept halfway down the river - every job we go to is always different.

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"The message is don't be an idiot - and don't be a hero - we're putting our lives at risk too, so don't put yourself at risk and endanger us too."

Mr Kishere described 2022 as "horrendous" with "everything from floods to winds, trees down, unexpected thunderstorms". But with the summer heat coming on quickly spurring people to head to the water, he said caution was needed to avoid tragedy.

"There's going to be a lot of people who want to cool down and check out the river that hasn't been open for the past couple of months," he said. "We just want to urge everyone to be safe - have a couple of quiet beverages but be careful around waterways, don't overdo it. Take advantage of the swim centres around too."

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