Post-cyclone flooding stretches Australia’s emergency efforts

[chahlley]

(Australia Today Monday 3 April 2017)

Post-cyclone flooding stretches Australia’s emergency efforts

Farmland and buildings surrounded by floodwaters near the northern New South Wales town

of Lismore after heavy rains associated with Cyclone Debbie swelled rivers to record heights.

Recovery efforts are expected to last several months. Photo: Reuters

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Published: 4:00 AM, April 3, 2017

BRISBANE — Rising floods continued to plague parts of eastern Australia as emergency workers battled to restore water and electricity in several areas yesterday in the aftermath of Cyclone Debbie, with the recovery efforts expected to last several months.

The disaster zone stretched 1,000km from Queensland state’s tropical resort islands and Gold Coast tourist strip to the farmlands of New South Wales state.

The police said yesterday they found a third body, bringing the national death toll to three since the cyclone hit on Tuesday.

There were also fears for three other people missing in flood-affected areas in Queensland, with police searching for them yesterday.

Cyclone Debbie, a category four storm, one short of the most powerful level five, pounded tourist resorts, bringing down power lines and shutting down coal mines.

Cyclone Debbie will hit Australia’s A$1.7 trillion (S$1.81 trillion) economy, with economists estimating it will slow growth to under 2 per cent in the first quarter.

Even as skies began to clear, numerous towns were still on flood alert and some regions remain under water.

Logan, just south of Brisbane, reflected the varied situation with rising floods affecting some areas while other parts swung into clean-up mode as waters receded.

“This is unprecedented for us,” Logan city mayor Luke Smith said yesterday , warning that his city was still “in flux” with one key river remaining at high levels.

“The sky is the limit at this stage about what that means,” he added about the potential damage bill.

In the town of Lismore in New South Wales, photos taken by emergency services showed businesses in the town centre inundated with brown water. Mayor Isaac Smith, who was assessing the damage yesterday, told Reuters it resembled a “war zone”.

Evacuation orders were still in place for a number of townships, with the city of Rockhampton in central-east Queensland bracing for the biggest floods it has experienced since 1954.

Peak levels are set to be reached late on Wednesday or early on Thursday. “It’s almost the size of Texas in the United States, it’s a huge catchment, and that’s why it can take some time for water to make it’s way downstream,” said meteorologist Michelle Verry from the Queensland Bureau of Meteorology.

The military and emergency personnel were working to restore essential services such as water and electricity in towns that were in the direct path of Cyclone Debbie.

In Proserpine, Mr Colin Ridgway’s home of two decades was destroyed by Cyclone Debbie. “Oh, it breaks your heart, really. But not much you can do about it. It’s gone,” he told the Australian Broadcasting Corporation.

The Insurance Council of Australia has declared the Queensland and northern NSW regions disaster zones, estimating the damage bill could reach A$1 billion.

“The devastation across our state is huge, it is going to take months to repair,” Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk told reporters in Logan yesterday. AGENCIES