Lockyer Valley floods: Mayor Tanya Milligan warns of mental health concerns for residents as clean-up starts in Laidley, Forest Hill
The Lockyer Valley’s mayor says the mental scars left by flooding in the past week will last far longer than the physical damage.
Gatton
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The physical damage might’ve been minor, but this week’s flood events that ripped through Laidley and Forest Hill will leave further mental scars according to the Lockyer Valley’s mayor.
The clean-up has well under way across the Lockyer Valley region after rising waters damaged multiple homes and businesses on Tuesday and Wednesday.
It was the result of the region receiving more than 150mm of rain between Sunday and Wednesday, which closed the Warrego Highway at Forest Hill and led to emergency alerts for multiple communities.
The Laidley main street went under on Tuesday morning, with several business inundated and staff left to sweep out a layer of mud from their shop floors.
Mayor Tanya Milligan said the council responded to more than 120 requests for assistance for a variety of non-life threatening issues, while there were 27 damage assessments on properties in Laidley and Forest Hill.
The council has waived the fees for using the local tips, while the Laidley recreation grounds remain closed.
Ms Milligan said while the floodwaters were nowhere near the levels of previous disasters, she noted the event had reopened deep emotional wounds for many locals.
“The concern is the mental health of residents, because people still have the trauma from past events and the current economic climate,” she said.
“We’ve had our community recovery team checking in on businesses and residents in Laidley and Forest Hill.
“They’re reporting trauma from previous experiences, and I think I even said that at our most recent local disaster management group meeting.
“Every event people go through, you get a new scar.”
Ms Milligan said the council would now count the cost of repairing its road and water infrastructure, having started discussions with both the Queensland Reconstructive Authority (QRA) and Fire and Emergency Services Minister Mark Ryan.
“We also on Wednesday had Mark Ryan come out (and) it was really lovely to see a genuine visit, he didn’t bring an entourage (and) I love that,” she said.
“We’ve got retired Major-General Jake Ellwood, he’s the CEO of the QRA, so he’s the man we need to talk to about damages.”
Ms Milligan said the LVRC’s disaster dashboard had more than 74,000 hits during the period of the floods.
The state’s wild weather isn’t letting up either, with Ex-tropical cyclone Kirrily dumping 340mm of rain in just 24 hours as the system begins to track towards southwest Queensland.
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