Cyclone Debbie: Anger brews as stranded Whitsundays tourists say they are being ripped off

TEMPERS are fraying at Airlie Beach, where the lagoon has filled with sewage and an argument has broken out over electricity.

TOURISTS are at breaking point in cyclone-hit Airlie Beach, where the local lagoon has filled with sewage, people are being forced to wash with precious bottled water and an argument has erupted over electricity.

Supermarket Woolworths has set up a charging station in the resort town, where a shouting match broke out between holiday-makers this morning and a woman was told: “You’ve had long enough, let someone else have a turn.”

The town’s lagoon had been used as a makeshift bathing spot but had to be roped off because it was now full of human waste, a security guard told news.com.au.

Tourists have been filling bins with water from hotel swimming pools to flush toilets and are having flannel washes with bottled water because pools and the lagoon are now filthy.

“It is now boiling hot and humid,” news.com.au reporter Emma Reynolds said from Airlie Beach.

“Tempers are fraying, with travellers angry at the lack support or information days after the cyclone. Some are staying in flooded rooms or have no windows.”

Bill Baverstock, a 68-year-old visiting from Adelaide with his wife and her relatives, told news.com.au the situation was “getting heated”.

“The girls are frantic, to put it mildly. We heard someone in the shops had come from Mackay and the road is clear, so it was ‘get us out of here!’ but what do we do there?

“We have a flight from here tomorrow. They’re clutching at straws. It’s getting heated. It’s pretty hard to keep morale up.

Mr Baverstock said emergency services co-ordinators had got it wrong.

“We’re all pensioners and the lack of response from anyone has been awful, just to knock on the door and say ‘are you OK?’

“Emergency services were billeted in the wrong place, they were five kilometres away and that’s why they took so long to get here. This is the first I’ve seen of them. They had to get in to get people out, it was a double whammy.

“This area is known for storms, maybe this is a learning curve for them to maybe act more quickly and get people out.”

Restaurants with generators will be serving barbecue food to stranded tourists again today.

Meanwhile, Whitsunday Regional Council — which covers Airlie Beach, Bowen, Proserpine, Hamilton Island and Daydream Island — has urged residents “DO NOT drink water from tap” in an emergency alert overnight.

“In the aftermath of Tropical Cyclone Debbie, Whitsunday Regional Council advises all residents that when water is restored to their area it may be discoloured and contain bacteria levels above normal standards,” the council wrote on its disaster and emergency Facebook page.

Residents who had no other option but to use the contaminated water were urged to boil it for three minutes first.

Meanwhile, long lines of desperate tourists have formed on Hamilton and Hayman islands as people try to score a place on airlines flying out of the battered resorts.

Brisbane woman Mercedes Haynes told the Townsville Bulletin that she had spent 48 hours surviving on baked beans and bread after the unit block she was staying in on Hamilton Island lost part of its roof in 270km/h winds.

“The booking agents have been disgusting, demanding we still pay for our ruined accommodation and resort management has only just had staff come and check on us at 2am (yesterday),” she said.

“We’ve had no one tell us about food or water, we only know the store is selling stuff which we cannot buy as they’re only accepting cash payment but there’s no way to get money out.”

A large tree blocks a footpath in Airlie Beach, where stranded tourists are becoming angry. Picture: AAP

Hamilton Island is a wreck after Cyclone Debbie. Picture: Dennis Garrett

DAYDREAM NIGHTMARE CONTINUES

Tourists finally evacuated from cyclone-ravaged Daydream Island have arrived on the mainland only to find themselves stranded again.

One hundred and sixteen guests and staff were evacuated from Daydream Island yesterday after almost running out of water.

Tourist Rob Chynoweth told the Whitsunday Timesthere was confusion abouth whether visitors could leave the Whitsundays via the Hamilton Island Airport, where there was no accommodation available, or by road.

He said others told him the only way out was to board a ferry to the mainland and fly out from Townsville.

“Last night with all that thunder and lightning, I thought we were never going to get off the island,” he said.

Meanwhile, large crowds descended on Woolworths at Airlie Beach yesterday morning, when the doors were opened for the first time since Cyclone Debbie hit.

Long queues at Woolworths supermarket at Airlie Beach yesterday. Picture: AAP

Glenda Moon, on holiday with her husband from Melbourne, told news.com.au she could not believe the lack of support and co-ordination.

“For visitors, the lack of information is unbelievable,” she told news.com.au. “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.”

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.”

Residents remove fallen trees and branches from the roads on Hamilton Island. Picture: Dennis Garrett