Toowoomba council applies to Queensland Reconstruction Authority for access to numerous disaster relief payments after ex-TC Alfred

Toowoomba mayor Geoff McDonald has revealed what needs to happen for the regional council area to access disaster relief funding in the wake of ex-Tropical Cyclone Alfred.

Toowoomba residents affected by the wild weather brought on by ex-Tropical Cyclone Alfred face a nervous wait to find out if they’ll be eligible for a range of disaster relief payments and grants.

Mayor Geoff McDonald revealed the Toowoomba Regional Council on Wednesday morning had lodged an application to the state government and the Queensland Reconstruction Authority for homeowners and locals to be eligible for a variety of hardship payments due to the extreme rain event.

It comes after the Garden City was subjected to 100km/h winds that sent trees through houses and knocked out power to 26,000 homes.

The Toowoomba region was not named as part of a variety of relief payments made available, including the Disaster Relief Payment, Disaster Recovery Allowance, Queensland Emergency Hardship Assistance Grant, Emergency Hardship Assistance, Essential Services Hardship Assistance, Essential Household Contents Grant, Essential Services Safety and Reconnection and the Structural Assistance Grant.

Mr McDonald said the council had gathered enough evidence from emergency services, local authorities and homeowners to extend the program further west, with the decision now in the hands of the QRA.

“The fact we’re not listed at this stage doesn’t mean we’re not being considered and we’ve already reached out regarding this,” he said.

Toowoomba Mayor Geoff McDonald. Picture: Kevin Farmer

“We’ve started the recovery phase, which means asking for those hardship payments.

“Residents’ feedback and evidence has been added to our application to strengthen our argument — that decision is with QRA and we await the outcome.”

Residents were still able to lodge their evidence of hardship with the council by emailing [e-mail].

Mr McDonald said the council would likely learn the true cost of repairing public infrastructure next week.

There are still two advice-level flood warnings in place across the region, including one for the town of Oakey that was issued on Sunday afternoon.

Another is still active for the Condamine River Flood Plains and Cecil Plains (issued Monday afternoon), which covers communities like Tummaville, Cecil Plains, Yandilla, Pampas, Lemon Tree, Condamine Plains and Branchview.

More than 20 roads are closed or affected across the region, including a dozen for flooding or damage.

For more information, head to the council’s Disaster Dashboard.

Dams at maximum capacity again

Lake Perseverance is full after the heavy rain in the Toowoomba region, Wednesday, March 2, 2022. Picture: Kevin Farmer

Toowoomba’s three dams are now at over 100 per cent capacity thanks to heavy rain, with Cressbrook completely filling and starting to splash over the top.

However, there is no concern at this point for residents living downstream of these catchments.

Mr McDonald said the recent rainfall would strengthen the council’s argument of the need to delay the completion date of the Cressbrook Dam safety upgrades, which could only be done once dam levels dropped to about 70 per cent.

“We need to get it down to 70 per cent for those doing the works, we can’t put people in there if it’s not down to that level,” he said.

“The Dam Safety Regulator, you’d hardly think they’d be critical about us delaying that, I’m sure those conversations will be had.

“The reasons why there would delays is because of rain, and that’s a pretty strong argument if there was any doubt about our ability to deliver it by October.”

Mr McDonald said there had been no discussions around changing water policies at council to encourage more water use.