Wildlife rescue mission a horror show of death and devastation

Mermaid Waters resident Lee Sievers said he felt lucky to be living on the central Gold Coast after the devastation he witnessed during a wildlife rescue mission to Tamborine Mountain on Boxing Day.

“(My daughter and I) went up on Boxing Day to possibly assist with transport of any remaining injured corellas from the Christmas Day storms,” Mr Sievers said. “The area where the corellas were was quite confronting, with massive trees down and many properties severely damaged.

“Some residents were on generator power, many were trying to secure tarps to (cover roof damage).”

Mr Sievers said the path of the storm was obvious from the damage to homes and trees.

“The drive back home was even more confronting as we were directed back to the Coast via Tamborine Village, which is what you can see in my clips,” he said.

“It was devastating to see and the damage and destruction is something we have never seen – you could almost think you were on a movie set it was so unbelievable.”

Mr Sievers’ daughter, Ebony, who is a wildlife vet nurse with the RSPCA, said many corellas were injured and RSPCA volunteers had been working into the early morning to save them.

“We went (to Tamborine Mountain) in the afternoon not knowing the full extent of what we were walking into as no one had phone reception,” Miss Sievers said.

“The extent of the damage with the corellas was devastating and far worse than I imagined.

“I’ve never seen destruction like it and the mortality rate of all the wildlife was so severe.

“The corellas alone were in the hundreds.”

Mr Sievers said that on the drive back he was surprised he heard nothing about the devastation in Tamborine on the radio.

“We couldn’t believe that we weren’t hearing anything about Tamborine or the surrounding areas, the news was very much focused on the Coast suburbs,” he said.