Brisbane floods: Close to 33,500 properties still without power

Close to 33,500 properties are still without power in the southeast on Tuesday morning, including nearly 30,000 in Brisbane.

Close to 33,500 properties are without power in South East Queensland as of 4pm on Wednesday, including almost 22,000 in Brisbane, with some outages set to last for days.

Nearly 5000 properties are also without power in both the Logan and Ipswich council areas. But power appears to be steadily returning to residents in Gympie with just over 1200 properties currently affected, down nearly 400 cases in one hour.

Energex spokesman Danny Donald has warned Queenslanders that power outages may continue to impact homes in the worst hit areas as floodwaters continue to frustrate technicians and communities alike.

“In the worst affected areas, they’re going to go beyond this week, undoubtedly,” Mr Donald said.

“These floodwaters particularly in the South East Queensland rivers and tributaries, particularly in Brisbane, Logan and past Ipswich, they’re not going down as quickly as anticipated.

“The community’s frustrated and so are our crews because we just want to get in there and start restoring but of course it’s pointless fixing anything that’s going to be covered again in the next high tide so we really just have our hands tied at the moment.

“We’ve got around 10,000 back on since yesterday but it’s again, the worst affected areas which are going to be without power well into the weekend.”

IN PICTURES: Brisbane wakes to flood devastation

VIEW GALLERY

But for the rainfall that Gympie has had, Mr Donald has said he’s pleased with how the situation is improving.

“We’re just really happy with how it’s coming along in Gympie. Initially we had floodwaters above power lines and the power lines are six metres off the ground.

“Our crew has got a photo today of a quad bike, a farmer’s quad bike in power lines so that’s how bad it was there.

“Initially we had more than 6,000 off at Gympie, we’re down to 1,400 and crews have got most of the high voltage repaired there and are now working the low voltage.

Mr Donald is hopeful though that while the relentless rainfall has made restoring power difficult, that electricity will begin returning to homes across South East Queensland.

“We’re crossing our fingers that we won’t need to cut anymore off,” he said. “In fact, we’re just hoping we’ll start getting those numbers down now as those waters continue to recede, albeit slowly.”

Power outages reached 41,000 statewide this morning due to Energex taking customers off major power grids, with further cuts expected throughout Tuesday as the Brisbane River level continues to peak, spokesman Justin Coomber said.

90+ images: SEQ’s flood disaster in pics

VIEW GALLERY

“It’s a bit of a double edged sword, we’re doing well to restore power but then we need to take people off the grid to ensure their safety, because of that tidal effect with the water levels dropping and rising,” Mr Coomber said.

“If water is coming into your house, call us and we will have to disconnect your power for safety.

“We have every available field crew on the road today, with more crews resting up for the days and nights ahead. As soon as the water goes down we can get our field crews in there assessing the damage, then starting the clean up and the repair work.”

An emergency alert has been issued to 140 Brisbane suburbs in anticipation for further peaks in the Brisbane River.

Queensland Fire and Emergency Services said the Brisbane River would continue to peak over coming days, and urged residents to check roads before evacuating.

The Brisbane River peaked at 3.41m at 9pm on Monday, but was expected to reach 3.7m at the 9.19am high tide on Tuesday.

Electricity workers working to restore power as large parts of Maryborough still inundated by floodwaters on Monday morning. Picture: Lachie Millard