Queenslanders grapple with damage caused by ex-Tropical Cyclone Alfred

ABC NEWS (Australia)

The worst of the weather may have passed, but Queenslanders are still grappling with the damage ex-Tropical Cyclone Alfred wrought on the south-east. Those in the floodwaters path are cleaning up and salvaging what they can.

Transcript

00:00After his Wollongabba rental flooded in 2022, Bowen Harding thought he was prepared.

00:09Because we had warning, I was able to put all of my stuff on this table.

00:13But the water came higher and faster than expected.

00:16The oven, it went under, so we'll probably have to get rid of that.

00:20Many of his possessions are now on the curb, his unit temporarily unlivable.

00:25It's just exhausting, you know, because it's so much work to do.

00:29We've lost another load of our tenant and our friend's stuff,

00:33and it's going to cost us about $300,000 to raise the house,

00:37which is pretty depressing.

00:40The city has a lot of big questions to answer about making sure

00:43we can protect areas like this in the future.

00:46Flood damage piles are a common sight across Brisbane.

00:50We're giving people this weekend the opportunity to put flood damage items

00:55out on their curbside in those flood affected areas,

00:58and we'll be starting the collection of those items on Monday.

01:01Nearly 100,000 people remain without power across south-east Queensland.

01:06Some have been out for days.

01:09Managing, really, just managing.

01:12It's a bit tough with the 18-month roll.

01:15The outages have been a nightmare for many businesses.

01:19Our business relies on sales and, well, it doesn't exist at the moment.

01:23There's just going to be no sales made here potentially for two weeks.

01:27The Premier says grants will be made available.

01:30We are determined to make sure that people get the assistance they need

01:33to get life back for them and their family.

01:36Cyclone Alfred's impact is being felt across the state.

01:40These empty shelves are in Townsville.

01:43Major supermarkets are confident impacted supply chains

01:46will be back in the coming days.

01:49In further signs things are returning to normal...

01:52I thought we were going to get another day off,

01:54so I was not prepared and I was sleeping in and everything.

01:57Hundreds of schools that were closed have now reopened,

02:00including this one on the Sunshine Coast.

02:03Yeah, it's definitely good to see school back on, get a break.

02:06It's been nice today, nice and relaxing.

02:09288 public and private schools remain closed today,

02:14the majority in Brisbane and on the Gold Coast.

02:17The state government says schools will be individually assessed

02:21to see if it's safe to reopen

02:23and parents will be notified the evening before.

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