KEITH CALM AND CARRY ON
BOWEN’S KEITH HILL LOOKS AT THE DAMAGE WREAKED BY CYCLONE DEBBIE FROM THE CONVERTED BUS HE CALLS HOME. THE 91-YEAR-OLD CHOSE TO RIDE OUT THE MONSTER STORM IN HIS 'CARAVAN' AND EMERGED UNSCATHED. MR HILL TOLD OF HIS EXPERIENCE AS THE HUGE CLEAN-UP OPERATION MADE A SLOW START YESTERDAY BECAUSE OF LINGERING BAD WEATHER.
CYCLONE Debbie has left thousands of residents cut off without power and supplies of fresh food as flooding slowed the start of recovery efforts.
Last night there were concerns for the safety of a woman whose car was found submerged in flood waters near Proserpine.
Two cars were swept away off the Bruce Highway by f flood waters with a man, who was driving one of the vehicles, found at a nearby property. The woman driving the other car had not been found latea last night.
Meanwhile, Navy ship HMAS Choules set sail from Brisbane for Townsville last night bearing hundreds of tonnes of supplies and specialist equipment to support the recovery efforts in the region as the Bruce Highway remains cut in multiple places.
Continuing bad weather yesterday meant 3000 people remained stranded on Hamilton and Daydream islands. yesterday with dwindling food and water supplies.
Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk flew over the disaster area yesterday with 3rd Brigade commander Brigadier Chris Field, who is co- ordinating the recovery efforts.
Ms Palaszczuk said while there were lots of trees and fences down in Bowen, the damage wasn’t as bad as they expected.
“My number one issue was the safety of families living in this region and it has been a team effort,” she said.
“But now the hard work is about to begin, it’s the clean up, restoring the power and making sure people can get back to their normal life.
“That’s not going to happen overnight, that’s going to take some time.
“We’re going to be with them, the residents and families of the Whitsunday re- gion for many, many days and weeks and months.”
Police Commissioner Ian Stewart said the co- operation of the public in preparing for the cyclone had helped to limit the damage.
“Certainly there’s a huge amount of vegetation loss, we’ve seen roofs off, we’ve seen walls caved in but thankfully we’ve seen no loss of life here,” he said.
“I’ve been able to brief the Premier and the Brigadier this morning that the early assessments ... we’re seeing about 20 per cent severe damage of the buildings and houses we’re assessing.
“It’s only the places that are damaged that we assess and of those, 20 per cent are in that severe range.”
About 1200 Australian Defence Force personnel have been committed to the recovery operation, Queensland Assist 17, to support emergency services workers and volunteers.
They will be supported by RAAF aircraft and HMAS Choules, a landing ship with disaster relief capabilities.
Acting chief of joint operations Major General Stuart Smith said areas and activities for the ADF were still being determined.
“Tasks will include evacuation, aeromedical transport, search and rescue, assisting to restore critical infrastructure, road and route clearance, emergency food, water, fuel and shelter delivery and distribution, as well reconnaissance, surveillance and damage assessments,” Maj- Gen Smith said yesterday.
About 63,000 customers are still without power following Cyclone Debbie, with technicians unable to get past floodwaters to begin repairs.
Ergon Energy corporate communications manager John Fowler said two heli- copters went out yesterday to get an aerial view of the damage but work would be limited until field staff could get into the damaged areas.
“We sent 40 field crews from Townsville down to Bowen and they were certainly doing work as they went from about Home Hill,” he said. “We really have to wait because it’s an access issue for us.
“We really are stuck like everybody else.”
Doctors, nurses, specialists and maintenance staff from Townsville Hospital have gone south to relieve Proserpine and Bowen. The 70 staff members were being choppered into the cyclone- hit zones yesterday afternoon by the army.
Medical Director of the Rural Hospital Service Group Dr Michael Young said the staff would be there for at least four days.
“We are sending the whole gamut of hospital staff … the plan is for us to go down and provide relief to the staff in the hospital, so we are sending down all disciplines,” Dr Young said.
Yesterday, the Insurance Council of Australia was already aware of about 2000 claims.