‘Forgotten’ Qld street without power, comms or water in Alfred’s wake

A southeast Queensland street of residents is feeling forgotten and abandoned in the wake of ex-tropical cyclone Alfred with no telecommunications, power or water for possibly a whole week.

Pockets of southeast Queensland households without electricity for days are now out of water as they plead for Energex to reconnect homes based on need — rather than just sheer numbers.

Households which rely on tank or bore water — including in Redland Bay — have been without power since Friday and thus unable to pump the water they need and may need to wait until Saturday for electricity.

More than 58,000 homes and businesses remain without electricity on Wednesday morning after the largest power outage caused by a natural disaster in Queensland’s history.

Shayne Nowlan with Christopher Peisker. Photo: Steve Pohlner

The Gold Coast is still the main area impacted, with 26,300 customers without power.

There are more than 8300 customers without electricity in the Redlands, more than 6400 in Moreton Bay, more than 6300 in Brisbane, more than 500 in the Scenic Rim, and just over 5100 in Logan.

But the end of torrential rain and flash flooding brought by ex-Tropical Cyclone Alfred has allowed southeast Queenslanders to begin the clean-up effort, with Premier David Crisafulli vowing there would be “zero daylight between response and recovery”.

“Disasters always test peoples resolve, it tests infrastructure but above all it tests the ability for people to go from tragedy to being able to get back on their feet,” he said.

Hardship payments worth $180 per person and $900 per family were extended to the Moreton Bay council area, as well as impacted parts of the Fraser Coast, after initially being unlocked for the Gold Coast, Logan, and Redland councils.

Mr Crisafulli said Brisbane residents should soon expect to have access to the disaster relief payments.

Financial help for small businesses was also on the way he said.

Tracy and Terry Whelan, the neighbours gum cut power on Friday night, Muriel St, is without power, Redland Bay – on Tuesday 11th March 2025 – Photo Steve Pohlner

Insurance claims spiked to a total of 20,665 — up from 8000 the day before — as southeast Queenslanders counted the cost of ex-Tropical Cyclone Alfred, according to data from the Insurance Council of Australia.

Mr Crisafulli said three quarters of the 450,000 power outages had been restored with Energex workers rostered on “around the clock” to have lights back on across the southeast.

But Redland Bay residents Tracy and Terry Whelan, who live on Muriel St, feel they’ve been forgotten.

“This whole area is on tank water. So everyone’s got their own tanks, so if you have no generator, you’ve got no water,” Mr Whelan said.

“And if you’ve got no power, you haven’t got a pump, to pump water to your toilet, to your shower and to your washing.

“So without power, this little community is dead as far as water supply.”

Mrs Whelan said it seemed Energex was prioritising grids with thousands of residents, while the 216 houses on her grid languished despite their increased need.

“We do feel like the forgotten street, with no communication as well as no power, you can’t stay up to date,” she said.

Tyson Saunders, of Redland Bay, said it was painful having no water.

Dominic Porter from Hassard Industries in the aftermath from flooding caused by ex Tropical Cyclone Alfred in Bundamba. Picture: Tara Croser.

“Everything’s wet in the house. We’ve got no clean clothes, can’t wash clothes. We’ve got a generator on our water pump because we have no town water out here,” he said.

“If they’re reconnecting suburbs, that have town water before people that don’t, I think that should be properly prioritised.”

Energex spokesman Danny Donald confirmed the greatest number of customers in an area were being prioritised.

“Everyone was encouraged to get ready for what the cyclone was going to throw at us and that was that power could be out for a week or more at that stage and that’s certainly what has happened,” he said.

“If we can get a greater number on in one particular area we will always do that to ensure that as many people as possible back on with power.”

The Bureau of Meteorology meteorologist Helen Reid said while no major rainfall was expected, flood warnings were still active for several major rivers. .

“Despite the rain easing, river levels are expected to remain high for several days,” she said.

It includes the Bremer River, Logan River, and Warrill Creek with moderate flood warnings for the Stanley River, Lockyer Creek and Albert River.

Minor flood warnings were still in place for the Burrum and Cherwell, Maroochy, Mary, Noosa rivers, the Brisbane River downstream of Wivenhoe Dam, and the Laidley Creek and the Upper Condamine.

Inundated residents in Oxley on Tuesday armed themselves with brooms and high-pressure water cleaners as the big clean up began.

Erosion at Brunswick Heads in the aftermath of TC Alfred. Picture: Glenn Campbell

Adam Beswick was grateful to see the Mud and Ute Army rock up at his house to clean up, after he fled from rising floodwaters on Saturday night.

“I had planned to stick it out but then the water was coming up pretty quick, it was halfway up the driveway and we’ve seen that before, so my daughter persuaded me to leave,” Mr Beswick said.

“It only got into the bottom floor, in 2011 and 2022 it was in the upper floor, so we really dodged a bullet as far as I’m concerned.”

Brisbane Boys College student Semisi Manu also volunteered his time in the community on Tuesday.

The 17-year-old, whose family was impacted by the 2022 floods, wanted to help out due to not being able to attend school.

“I felt it was important to help my fellow locals out after my family were affected in the floods in 2022,” he said.

“Seeing the impact the flood had on my family of nine, seeing the kids’ faces, how everything can change in an instant and you can lose everything, that is why I am helping out.”

Originally published as ‘Forgotten’ Qld street without power, comms or water in Alfred’s wake