Thousands trapped on Whitsunday Islands starved of food, answers
ANGRY and stranded, tourists are stripping Airlie Beach supermarket of supplies as they complain about “unbelievable” lack of help.
EVACUATIONS have begun on cyclone-ravaged Hamilton Island and Daydream Island, where desperate tourists had begun running out of food and water.
The Whitsunday Island airstrip on Hamilton Island was finally opened earlier today, and tourists and staff are being moved.
On Daydream Island, the defence force has flown in and evacuated 200 people while delivering food, water and fuel.
Most could be off Daydream Island by Thursday afternoon, with management securing a ferry to get most people to the mainland, and some to Hamilton Island.
“Boat is here, we are currently being briefed,” Jessica Swann said via Twitter.
The Defence Force will help as needed, the letter from management says.
Boat is here. We are currently being briefed. Most headed for mainland, 25 for Hamilton Is. #CycloneDebbie #daydreamisland pic.twitter.com/yaFbjxWpxV
— Jessica Swann (@JessicaSwann) March 30, 2017
Meanwhile, a Woolworths supermarket at Airlie Beach was being stripped of food and bottled water almost as soon as it reopened its doors.
Tourists stranded in the resort town are incredulous at the dearth of support, information and co-ordination for the 3000 people stuck there.
Glenda Moon, on holiday from Melbourne with her husband, was among a flood of people swamping Woolworths when it reopened this morning.
They are desperate not just for supplies, but for answers and information.
As shoppers piled groceries and water into cardboard boxes, Ms Moon told news.com.au “for visitors, the lack of information is unbelievable”.
“There’s no communication. It’s just the not knowing that’s the hardest part. I know they have a lot to do but they need to get an information place set up. My phone is dead, I’ve got no service, it’s hard. I thought there’d be someone in the street with information and water.
“Soon Woolworths will be cleared out. Maybe the army will bring food. The other thing is medication, everyone’s going to run out.
“A hot shower would be heaven. It’s going to be a smelly flight home.”
Some tourists have been jumping in debris-littered swimming pools and washing in the lagoon with bars of soap.
Ms Moon is among 3000 people are trapped on the cyclone-ravaged Whitsunday Islands amid dwindling food and water supplies as reports of looting emerge.
Hotel guests stranded on Daydream Island have been given just one bottle of water each to last them until evacuation, which is being hampered by continued bad weather.
Tourists are growing increasingly desperate, with many on the mainland trying to flee via roads that are now littered with storm debris in the wake of Category 4 Cyclone Debbie.
In Airlie Beach, the roof of the Billabong store has caved in and the manager of wrecked Beaches bar looked tearful at the extensive damage.
Whitsundays Food Service were handing out free iced coffees and flavoured milks from a truck because their warehouse generator had failed.
Rumours are flying around the town of having no power for three weeks and no petrol for seven days, which could affect generators, keep people out of work and stop exhausted and desperate travellers getting home.
“I lived through four hurricanes in the Caribbean and it was never like this,” Rob Brennan, who had brought a team from Cape Town to repair yachts, told news.com.au. “It’s the worst organised.
“I was in Hurricane Sandy in America and that was a total disaster, it killed thousands and flooded the area but everything was back running in three or four days. Simple things, like there’s a radio in the room but no battery in it.
“I was in Shute Harbour yesterday, it’s a disaster. You can’t believe it, bits in the trees.
“One of our yachts is 17 tons and it’s in bits. We evacuated one yacht to Hamilton Island but that was hit worse. We were supposed to leave here Sunday and have a few days holiday in Sydney.
“Apparently Proserpine airport is flooded. The army is going to try and clear it but the roads are flooded. We heard Hamilton is going to be evacuated here. But apparently along the coast 100km each way the whole thing’s dead.”
One tourist told news.com.au she had booked on to flights on Sunday, Monday and Tuesday in the hope one will get her home.
Many were wandering around aimlessly this morning, some vainly seeking news or help and others, like Taylor Bourke, 17, and Christian Fahey, 20, sitting on the kerb looking miserable.
“We don’t have any money, we don’t have any food or smokes,” Taylor told news.com.au. “We were supposed to fly out on Monday back to Sydney. They refund your money but you don’t get it for three weeks.
“It’s pretty s***. We got money transferred three days ago but it’s not in the account and Optus is down.”
LOOTING
Anger is also brewing after heartless thieves used the storm devastation as cover to steal from local businesses.
“Leave town, you are not welcome in the Whitsundays if you want to do that,” Banjo’s restaurant chef Damien Rogers told the Whitsundays Times, after thousands of dollars worth of alcohol, footy tipping money and a safe was looted from the Airlie Beach business.
“This is the biggest cyclone I have ever seen and for someone to go around stealing while people are locked down, you are lower than dog s**t as far as I’m concerned.”
Cash and an iPad were among the items looted from Cherrie Baby Boutique in nearby Proserpine.
The official Hamilton Island Facebook page said the airport would reopen today, with Virgin Australia, Jetstar and Qantas to provide additional flights through to Saturday until all guests were returned home.
Meanwhile, planned mass evacuations of Hamilton and Daydream islands were cancelled yesterday as holiday-makers struggled without power or a way home.
The Facebook page also reported that there were no injuries on the island to guests, residents or staff.
Daydream Island was unable to send any guests home overnight due to adverse weather conditions.
“The harbour master has not given permission for any marine vessels to operate until the waterways are safe,” the Daydream Island Resort and Spa posted on Facebook last night.
“In addition, we have been hampered by damage to key transport infrastructure both on Daydream and on regional roads and airports.
“As such, we will not be able to transport any guests off the island today.”
Water on the island was rationed to one bottle per person for 471 guests and staff, The Courier-Mail reported.
“We’ve got a barge going out there tonight to keep them going until we can get the evacuation happening there,” Queensland Police deputy commissioner Steve Gollschewski said yesterday.
Tourists are plotting their escape back on the mainland at Airlie Beach, which was also badly damaged by the cyclone.
Some are planning to pay someone to drive a hire car from Mackay to Airlie Beach and back so they can catch a flight at a larger airport, news.com.au’s Emma Reynolds reports from Airlie.
“It looks like the roads will be too flooded however, because the rain is still pouring here, lightning flashing and thunder rumbling,” she said.
Desperate tourists queue for pay phone in Airlie Beach #TCDebbie @newscomauHQ pic.twitter.com/pfdBcSkPAd
— Emma Reynolds (@emmareyn) March 29, 2017
Jacqui McCullagh, who was staying on Hamilton Island with her friends, told The Courier-Mail that it “looked like a war zone”.
“Boats washed ashore, houses without roofs, windows smashed in, trees snapped in half, gum trees torn out of the ground and those that do remain standing, are bare and lifeless,” she said.
“The wind gusts were so ferocious, they sounded like freight trains passing by. The concrete walls were shaking non-stop all day.”
While the Whitsundays sustained severe structural damage, Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk was confident the tourist hot spots would bounce back.
“Our islands, our Whitsunday Islands, are some of the most beautiful, pristine islands in the world that people come from all around the world to visit,” she said yesterday.
“They have been rebuilt before, and I know they can do it again.”
BIRD’S EYE PICTURES SHOW DEBBIE’S DESTRUCTION
Aerial pictures have revealed the true extent of Cyclone Debbie’s wrath, with dramatic images showing roofs ripped off, trees flattened and land inundated.
BRISBANE AND GOLD COAST TOLD TO PREPARE
Queenslanders are being urged to go home early and employers should shut up shop at lunchtime to prepare for the severe weather event that’s set to cause chaos in South East Queensland this afternoon.
Police Commissioner Ian Stewart has advised workers in the state’s southern corner — from Mackay all the way down the Gold Coast including the state’s capital of Brisbane — to start taking action in preparation for the sting in ex tropical Cyclone Debbie’s tail.
“This can’t be underestimated all down the eastern seaboard,” he said.
“We need to make sure we are taking action, strong action, now.”
Commissioner Stewart advised Queenslanders to leave work in the early afternoon and collect their children early as well, and stressed people should stay off the roads.
“If I was an employer I’d certainly be thinking about closing down by lunchtime,” he said.
“People will be thinking about their kids, families, you don’t want to them stuck at home, you don’t want them worrying.”
Mr Stewart said revising work and travel plans would be inconvenient for many, but added: “Inconvenience we can deal with, patience we can all deal with.”
“If someone calls out for help we need to get there fast. We don’t need our roads clogged up with people who are acting too late,” he said.
Queensland’s Minister for police fire and emergency Mark Ryan said warned road visibility would be low and driving conditions would be challenging.
“If you can avoid travelling on the road please do,” he said. “We don’t want to lose a Queenslander in this event.”
Senior meteorologist Matthew Bass from the Bureau of Meteorology said rainfall totals could exceed 400mm throughout the Gold Coast and Sunshine Coast Hinterland.
Mr Bass said rainfall and thunderstorms brought by ex-tropical Cyclone Debbie would hit Brisbane, the Gold Coast and Sunshine Coast areas today, moving across the area tonight and offshore Friday morning.
Areas of the Gold Coast Hinterlind have already been lashes with up to 130mm of rain in only three hours.
FLOOD FEARS AS DEBBIE’S WRATH LINGERS
Towns have been cut off throughout parts of north Queensland after Cyclone Debbie brought with it “phenomenal” rain.
Roads connecting Airlie Beach, Bowen and Proserpine have been flooded, hampering rescue and clean-up efforts in areas already battered by ferocious winds.
More than 60,000 homes are without power or communications.
The Bruce Highway is cut off north and south of Mackay and Proserpine River has burst its banks.
Residents in the Mackay area were told last night that there was only 24 hours of drinkable water left, The Courier-Mail reported.
Bureau of Meteorology hydrology manager Victoria Dodds told AAP that the rainfalls had been “phenomenal”, totalling more than 1000mm in 48 hours — about half a year’s worth — in the Pioneer Basin.
Debbie was a category-four storm at its peak, but it has now been downgraded to a topical low. However, the bureau still warns of damaging wind gusts and “intense” rain.
“This rainfall is likely to lead to major river flooding over a broad area this week,” it said.
SunWater urged residents downstream of Kinchant Dam, west of Mackay, to “consider [the] need to self-evacuate or move to higher ground” as the water body threatened to overflow.
Residents immediately downstream of #KinchantDam to consider need to self-evacuate or move to higher ground. Dam at 119% capacity & rising. pic.twitter.com/VocaUs5WLN
— SunWater (@SunWaterLimited) March 29, 2017
BOM weather services manager Richard Wardle said rainfall could reach 150mm in the Brisbane area today.
Ms Palaszczuk visited the worst hit areas by helicopter yesterday.
“Around Proserpine itself, it was like a town that was surrounded by a sea of water,” she said.
“They have never seen so much water in their life.”
MISSING WOMAN FOUND
A woman missing after her car was found submerged near Proserpine has been found safe.
She was seen standing on the roof of her white Ford Falcon and was presumed to have been in danger, but she was located by authorities Tuesday morning.
Another car was swept away in the same area, but the male drive was found safe at a nearby property.
Emergency services also saved three people stuck on the roof of a car in floodwaters at Sarina, south of Mackay.
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