Ipswich charity ReStart 'still standing' after being decimated by flood during ex-Tropical Cyclone Alfred

ABC NEWS (Australia)

Jason Smith and Tara Bugden property at Walloon, west of Ipswich, was flooded by the Bremer River in the aftermath of ex-Tropical Cyclone Alfred in Queensland.

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00:00This is what Jason Smith and Tara Bugden's home near Ipswich looked like in March.

00:08Lounge rooms flooded, items in the shed washed away.

00:12I'm sick of crying at the moment. Every time I open another door.

00:17Their home-based charity providing furniture to those escaping domestic violence decimated by floodwaters caused by ex-tropical cyclone Alfred.

00:26But now they're up and running.

00:29We're nearly back to the same stock level where we were.

00:33Which took us two years to acquire last time.

00:35Yeah, that's it. It took us two years last time, but it hasn't taken that long this time.

00:39They couldn't get affordable flood insurance living in a flood zone, so community support and donations helped.

00:46It's amazing what we've achieved in three months with the help of everybody else.

00:50The final price tag of cyclone Alfred is still being assessed.

00:55The Insurance Council of Australia says 123,000 claims have been lodged, worth $1.3 billion in insured losses.

01:05Home claims were the most dominant, and we had a large number of food spoilage claims because of power outages.

01:14The Insurance Council says claims have come from all over the state.

01:18A tropical cyclone Alfred ended up becoming a very severe storm event.

01:22So we saw mainly storm driven damage.

01:26So overflowing gutters, water inundation through the ceiling.

01:30Jason and Tara are hopeful they'll be more prepared for the next flood.

01:34The last three months, I'd say, don't ask my muscles or our backs or anything like that, but we're getting there.

01:43We're still standing, so that's the main thing.

01:45Our visions are really high now. We want to help everyone.

01:50We want to help everyone.

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