Logan City Council says a roadmap to recovery is being fine-tuned as it continues to support thousands of residents battered by the elements over the holiday season.
Council says the recovery is expected to take weeks and, in some of the worst impacted areas of the city’s southwest, possibly months.
Council’s Local Recovery Group (LRG) has been meeting to finalise the phased
recovery plan as it progressively takes the lead in coming days from the disaster
response effort.
The LRG will work closely with the Australian and Queensland governments,
emergency services and other agencies to facilitate social and financial support for
those impacted by storms and floods as well as delivering a massive clean-up
program that includes infrastructure repairs and inspections, Council said in a statement.
Matters being actioned by Council include:
- Ensuring all impacted residents, businesses and farmers are made aware of,
and can access, all available hardship funding and support. - How to best deploy Logan’s allocation from the 50 Australia Defence Force
(ADF) personnel assigned to the South East Queensland region from later this
week. - How to best utilise manpower and machinery resources offered by Disaster
Relief Australia (DRA) and the Department of Agriculture and Fisheries (DAF).
DRA staff are authorised to enter private property to assist in clean-ups. ADF
personnel focus on critical infrastructure in public spaces. - Continuing the extensive program of clearing fallen trees and vegetation on
roads and Council-managed parks and reserves. A staged approach is being
used. Initial works are focussed on providing access to blocked areas as soon
as possible. Some vegetation is being removed but crews are also pushing
debris to the roadside to open blocked lanes. Crews will return at a later date
to remove or chip the fallen vegetation left behind. - How to integrate planned kerbside clean-ups in some south-western suburbs
over coming weeks into the overall storm/flood clean-up.
Mayor Darren Power has urged local residents to be understanding and patient.
“We have seen from the strong turnout at the Jimboomba Community Hub in recent
days that there are many people facing very challenging times and we are doing
everything we can to help,” Mayor Power said.
“With the extra resources and manpower arriving to support Council teams and
services, we can get the recovery moving faster and get as many people back in their
homes as soon as possible.
“It is going to take time and I urge anyone who is doing it tough, either financially or
mentally as a result of the events of the last fortnight, please reach out as assistance
and support is available.”
As of noon yesterday, more than 400 people had attended the Community Recovery Hub at Jimboomba, with hot showers and free laundry services available again today.
The hub, located in the Jimboomba Library and Community Centre on Honora St, provides a place for residents to engage with Community Recovery staff, receive referrals for community and government agencies, apply for hardship grants and receive insurance information.
Energex reports around 1800 customers are still without power across the City, with work continuing to reconnect homes to the network or generated power.
