The damage bill from Queensland’s floods could top $1billion as thousands of shattered homeowners have demanded to know why they weren’t warned sooner of the looming disaster.
Some angry Brisbane residents revealed they received no flood warnings until they were already inundated and their complaints were backed by a climatology statistician.
Tens of thousands of Brisbane residents were evacuated as the floods, which have so far claimed 10 lives in south east Queensland and north-eastern NSW.
The Insurance Council of Australia says more than 37,800 claims have been lodged to date, but it is still far too early to pinpoint the exact bill.
More than 80,000 claims for disaster support have been made.
Thousands of volunteers are beginning the huge task of cleaning up flood affected areas around Brisbane after belongings and waste were strewn across the city by floodwaters (pictured, Jane Knox is seen cleaning up her flood damaged property in the suburb of Auchenflower)
Angry Brisbane residents revealed they received no flood warnings until they were already inundated and their complaints were backed by a climatology statistician (pictured, a man delivers a canoe to stranded residents in Fairfield, Brisbane)
Thousands of people were evacuated by floodwaters in Brisbane as floodwaters also destroyed and damaged expensive boats moored on the Brisbane River
The massive clean-up is underway as the state’s ‘mud army’ of volunteers collects tonnes of flood-damaged items that continue to pile up outside homes and businesses.
However, the massive clean-up is underway as the state’s ‘mud army’ of volunteers collects tonnes of flood-damaged items that continue to pile up outside homes and businesses.
‘It’s clear that the flooding disaster emergency here in the southeast is not over yet, but the recovery process has begun,’ Deputy Premier Steven Miles said on Wednesday.
‘Early estimates suggest that the damage bill for this disaster could be up to a billion dollars.’
There was growing anger from flood-stricken residents over official warnings and advise – some of which arrived when they were already flooded, the Courier Mail reported.
There were chaotic scenes on the Brisbane River which swamped homes along the Brisbane Corso forcing widespread evacuations (pictured, a damaged pontoon on the Brisbane River)
As floodwaters slowly begin to recede, volunteers are racing against mother nature with potentially severe storms forecast to batter the southeast in coming days
Tens of thousands of Brisbane residents were evacuated as the floods, which have so far claimed a national death toll of 10, devastated south east Queensland and north-eastern NSW
Brisbane Corso resident Nigel Bean said the first flood warnings came through to his area at 9.30pm on Saturday – when some homes were already underwater – including his 96 year old neighbour’s house.
Mr Bean feared had she not already gone by the time the warning arrived, she may have died.
‘The water was waist deep, she was still sat in her house waiting for someone to come and rescue her … She had called the police earlier, she waited nearly 12 hours to be rescued.’
Mr Bean said officials need ‘to be put on the spot’ and explain why the warnings were so late.
Criticism of official advice was supported by Dr Kate Saunders from the Queensland University of Technology.
She said a basic flood map PDF given to residents showed where flooding might reach but gave no indication of how deep waters might get, she said.
A man removes debris from his flooded home during a break in the weather in Brisbane, Australia, Wednesday
Early estimates are that the damage bill for the catastrophic floods could top $1billion (pictured, The Carmel, Yamba’ hotel is seen flooded in the town of Yamba, in northern NSW)
‘A house going under floor to ceiling is very different from having some water on your front lawn,’ Dr Saunders said.
If they had live information available online about how floodwaters might change residents could have made ‘better decisions’ about when to evacuate.
Urgent repairs are already underway on Queensland’s public transport network which effectively ground to a halt as the water rose.
From Thursday, train services will resume at reduced capacity, transport Minister Mark Bailey said.
‘There have been some really severe impacts across every line,’ Mr Bailey said.
Wreckage and debris litters a jetty on the Brisbane River on Wednesday
More than 8,000 volunteers have signed on to help with the massive relief and recovery effort underway across the southeast
‘But what we’ll be doing tomorrow is reopening the train system in a reduced format … it’s the best we can do at this point.’
Public transport will also be free and tolls scrapped until Sunday night.
As floodwaters slowly begin to recede, volunteers are racing against mother nature with potentially severe storms forecast to batter the southeast in coming days.
Initially two teams of 100 volunteers are racing to assist residents in the 21-worst hit Brisbane suburbs.
More than 8,000 volunteers have signed on to help with the massive relief and recovery effort underway across the southeast.
Claim numbers at insurer Suncorp have already topped 13,000 with the figure expected to continue to rise.
‘That’s an extraordinary number of claims in a very short period of time,’ Suncorp CEO Steve Johnston said.
Mr Johnston said it was already clear the state would be dealing with ‘large losses’ and urged the recovery to ‘build it back better’.
‘The inevitability here is that we are going to be repairing homes that have been repaired three or four times.’
While Gympie is still focused on its clean up, mayor Glen Hartwig said there will need to be a shift toward longer-term recovery for local businesses.
‘There’s a desperate need to show some care and compassion to these individuals who often will mortgage a kidney just to get involved and have a bit of an entrepreneurial go at life,’ he said on Wednesday.
‘It’s quite likely that a lot won’t get back into Mary street, so in the coming time, we’ll be talking with all the relevant people to see what can be done to assist them.
‘They’re good people, they’re hardworking people, they love the region and they love the community and we want to see them thrive.’
Brisbane City Council has launched a citywide clean-up while counting the cost but warns it will take time.
‘It is still too early to determine the damage figure – there’s a lot of assets that we haven’t been able to get onto yet,’ Brisbane Mayor Adrian Schrinner said.
‘Ferry terminals, river walks – there’re a lot of parks that have had significant damage so this will take some time to get the figures together.’
Cr Schrinner said the cost is not expected to exceed 2011 figures.
‘I don’t expect that it will be at that level. I think it will be less than 2011 but we still don’t have a figure at this point. This will be something that takes time.’
