Thousands of Queenslanders still without power following destructive Christmas Day storms
First responders are under pressure to get power in thousands of homes back up and running before weather conditions worsen.
Southeast Queenslanders are being warned they’re facing a “tough” few days as energy workers try to get power back after horror storms wreaked havoc on critical electricity infrastructure.
More than 83,000 homes and businesses were still without power at 4.30pm on Wednesday after a fourth day of severe storms and heavy rains, according to the state’s energy supplier, Energex.
The Christmas Day storm struck thousands of homes on the Gold Coast, the Scenic Rim and the Logan area, with north of Brisbane also being impacted on Boxing Day by severe thunderstorms.
Queensland Energy Minister Mark de Brenni said storms had felled some 950 power lines across the state’s southeast, 800 of which were on the Gold Coast.
Mr de Brenni said the task of getting power back online could “become more significant before it gets better” as the day progresses.
“All available crew are deployed, another 80 crews are coming from Brisbane,” he said.
“A restoration plan is set to be released in the next day or so, street by street, suburb by suburb will have a clearer expectation (of when power will be restored).
Mr de Brenni said energy crews were reporting unprecedented levels of damage, with many not seeing this kind of destruction in 40 years.
“There is a lot of pressure on first responders,” he said.
“It’s a busy time of year and weather events like this don’t make it any easier. But we have the best training in the world.
“We prepare each and every year for this perfect storm scenario.
“It is going to be tough (in the coming days).”
Mr de Brenni said the priority was to first restore power to critical infrastructure, including water treatment, with a plan to be made in coming days for impacted homes.
“Once we’ve done these assessments we’ll be able to publish a restoration plan,” he said.
“I know the question that many people will be asking is ‘how long have I got to wait’?
“And, so whilst we’re working as quickly as we can, we’ve got to do that as safely as possible.
“In the next day or so we’ll be able to publish a full restoration plan.
“That will give you a street by street, road by road, and suburb by suburb … a clear expectation around when your power will be restored.”
Premier Steven Miles said there were currently 450 energy worker crews on the road working tirelessly to reconnect electricity before more severe weather strikes the region, with a heatwave forecast for Thursday and Friday.
“There’s been 900 power lines taken down by these storms – they did a great job overnight reconnecting 25,000 houses but there are still tens of thousands of Queenslanders who are without power,” Mr Miles said.
Mr Miles said SES crews have received nearly 1000 requests for assistance since the storm.
“That is a very heavy workload for them,” he said.
“They’ll prioritise according to the greatest need and they will get to everybody eventually.
“Their focus yesterday was on tarping roofs in areas likely to see further storm activity.
“We are expecting more Thunderstorms this afternoon and into tonight.
“So the SES crews are prioritising those jobs that will allow them to make those homes safely.”
Gold Coast Mayor Tom Tate said Monday’s weather event could be described as “almost a tornado” after it recorded wind speeds at the Gold Coast Seaway of 106km per hour while in the heart of the storm some people recorded gusts of up to 160km per hour.
“By definition that’s a category 2 wind speed,” Mr Tate said.
“That’s the damage and from that information we can review what it looks like when there’s a category 2 wind coming.”
Wild weather conditions set to continue
Mr Tate said there’s low risk storms forecast for the region on Wednesday, with a heatwave expected to strike the southeast on Thursday and Friday.
“We’re not out of the woods but appears the SES can continue its recovery,” he said.
“The task for us is really going to get the energy back on so the aircon can get on.”
Gold Coast hospitals have been placed on a code brown.
Mr Tate said he’d been informed hospital staff had also been recalled from leave ahead of potential heatwaves on Thursday and Friday.
Those impacted by power outages are encouraged to visit council facilities, including libraries, to seek airconditioning and comfort.
The Gold Coast Aquatic centre will also be opening its doors free to the public on Thursday and Friday for people to escape the heat.
Queensland’s Housing Minister Meaghan Scanlon said the Bureau of Meteorology had warned of renewed flooding over the coming days in areas north of the Gold Coast.
Residents in the Gold Coast region impacted by the severe weather will also now have access to state and Commonwealth disaster hardship funding.
The payments are $180 per person and up to $900 for families of five or more.
Theme parks opening again
Meanwhile for those wishing to visit theme parks over the Christmas break, Sea World reopened its doors to the public on Boxing Day following the intense storm.
Warner Bros Movie World at Oxenford also reopened on Wednesday but its sister theme park, Wet’n’Wild, remained closed and is expected to reopen on Thursday.
Dreamworld also reopened on Wednesday but with the wildlife and Tiger Island closed to visitors for the time being.
White Water World will also stay shut until further notice as the park continues to go deal with power outages.
Meanwhile, neighbouring Paradise Country will stay closed until Saturday.
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