Gold Coast facing damage bill in billions’ after ex-TC Alfred’s trail of destruction
Homes have been crushed by fallen trees and tens of thousands have lost power on the Gold Coast after ex-Tropical Cyclone Alfred “hammered” the region, causing “multi-billion” dollars in damages.
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The Gold Coast is facing a multi-billion dollar clean-up after being slammed by ex-Tropical Cyclone Alfred, with its famous beaches badly battered, homes crushed by tumbling trees and tens of thousands of properties without power.
The Coast was licking its wounds after bearing the brunt of the cyclone and its severe tropical storm aftermath, with warnings the danger was not yet over.
Wild winds of up to 107km/h on Friday night snapped a power pole in half on the Gold Coast Highway and brought down large trees and powerlines across the city.
Fifteen people had to be evacuated from the Broadwater Keys motel at Labrador after its roof was peeled off by the gale-force winds on Friday night, with one woman taken to hospital.
“That wind sounded like a jet … it scared the s*** out of me,” motel resident Chloe Stewart said.
Four other people were taken to hospital after being overcome with carbon monoxide fumes while using a generator at a Mudgeeraba home.
Gold Coast acting mayor Donna Gates said while it was too early to assess the damage bill, it was likely to be “in the billions”.
Speaking on Saturday afternoon, she said 134,661 properties were without power including the Gold Coast University Hospital and John Flynn Private Hospital at Tugun, with both resorting to generators.
Gold Coast Airport had also lost power, along with the Coombabah water treatment plant.
Traffic lights at about 150 intersections, many on major roads, were out as well.
Two of the Coast’s three evacuation centres, housing 122 evacuees overnight Friday, also lost power.
Cr Gates said already battered Coast beaches were still being “hammered”, with 4-6m erosion cliffs scarring the shore from Southport to Nobby Beach and “pretty extensive damage” to beachside infrastructure such as lifeguard towers, boardwalks and stairs.
She said repairs to the beaches were “going to take a while for sure” and are expected to remain closed for days.
Cr Gates said 283mm of rain had drenched Springbrook on Friday and Saturday, leading to emergency flooding alerts for the Currumbin and Tallebudgera creeks which were later downgraded.
She said while the Coast had been hit hard, fears of more torrential rain appeared to have eased.
“Brisbane is now going to get the aftermath we were expecting here as the southernmost tip (of the cyclone),” she said.
“The outlook is better today, we’re expecting possibly 100 to 200mm of rain, whereas yesterday it was much higher at 300 to 400mm. It looks like Brisbane’s going to get that now rather than the Gold Coast.
“It has gone a little further north and that’s been a good thing for the Gold Coast.”
But Cr Gates said the cyclone emergency was “not over yet”, with potential for more gale-force winds and higher than predicted rainfall.
Superintendent Peter Miles, of Gold Coast police, said 120 police reinforcements were flying in from North Queensland on Sunday to help Gold Coast, Brisbane and Logan colleagues deal with the cyclone aftermath.
With dozens of mobile phone towers down, police were being flooded with calls from worried relatives to conduct welfare checks on residents.
Police were also patrolling the coastline on Saturday ordering sightseers off closed beaches, amid warnings they faced potential $16,100 fines.
Supt Miles said no-one had yet been fined but warned the public against “complacency”.
“We don’t want people coming out too early and going back to the beaches - we don’t want them going out for looks on areas which could give way,” he said.
“It’s still quite a vulnerable area, that oceanfront. This has been the weirdest (weather) system, it’s not really done what it should have done.
“We don’t know what it’s going to do tonight, we don’t know what it’s going to do tomorrow. We’ve got an idea, but we’ve just got to play it safe.”
After being closed since Thursday in anticipation of Alfred, some Coast shops and businesses including service stations reopened on Saturday, attracting queues of people - but supplies including bread, milk and gas remained scarce.
Cr Gates said the city council was working on plans to re-open community centres and libraries as soon as possible so people could recharge devices and “get a cup of tea”.
Originally published as Gold Coast facing damage bill in billions’ after ex-TC Alfred’s trail of destruction
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