Clean-up efforts underway as floodwaters start to recede

ABC NEWS (Australia)

Focus shifts to recovery in the aftermath of ex-Tropical Cyclone Alfred in Queensland and northern New South Wales.

Transcript

00:00As you can see behind me, I'm on the edge of the Bremer River here in Ipswich.

00:06The water is starting to recede quite fast, even as we've been standing here.

00:11The cars you can see behind me, we can already see more of them, so that water is coming

00:14down quite rapidly.

00:17In terms of power, power's been returned to most homes now.

00:21There's about 58,000 homes still without power.

00:24The majority of those are actually on the Gold Coast.

00:26There's about 26,000 without power there.

00:29Energex says about 95% of homes should have their power back by Friday, and 100% by Sunday.

00:36All right, so thoughts must be turning now to insurance claims to cover damage.

00:42What do we know about the amount of claims being made?

00:45Yeah, the Insurance Council has declared this an insurance disaster.

00:5022,000 claims have already been lodged, and they're expecting thousands more to come in

00:55the coming weeks and months.

00:57I suppose in comparison to this cycle in Jasper about two years ago, that ran to a

01:02bill of about $400 million, and that was about 10,500 insurance claims in total there.

01:09Let's go to northern New South Wales now.

01:11Reporter Nick Dole is in Lismore.

01:13Hi there, Nick.

01:14The focus has shifted from the emergency response now to recovery.

01:20That's right, Ros.

01:21Here in Lismore, the Wilsons River continues to drop, and it's a similar situation across

01:27the region.

01:28There have still been a few showers coming through, but no heavy falls that would threaten

01:31communities.

01:32And so, as you say, the focus really is switching to recovery.

01:37Power supplies, they are coming back online, but there are still about 4,500 businesses,

01:44mostly between Ballina and the Queensland border, who remain without power.

01:48And in certain circumstances, it's really hard to reach properties because they're still

01:51surrounded by floodwaters.

01:53Now, the government says that there is an opportunity for people to claim disaster relief

01:59payments.

02:00There'll be $180 available for business for individuals from today, and up to $900 for

02:07families.

02:09But Superintendent Scott Tanner, who's the recovery coordinator, he says his teams are

02:13already out on the ground, and they are assessing the damage.

02:16And so far, they have found a number of homes that people just can't live in.

02:21My priorities over the next few days are to get our teams in place and out there in

02:26the community assisting.

02:28We will not be sitting behind desks.

02:29We will not be holding meetings for the sake of meeting.

02:31We'll be out on the ground speaking and interacting with people and finding out firsthand what

02:35their needs are.

02:36And Nick, the government isn't backing down from its plans to demolish homes there in

02:41Lismore that have been occupied by squatters.

02:46That's right.

02:47The Parsons River behind me back in 2022, it swallowed up large parts of Lismore.

02:53And as a result, the government bought back homes that they deemed to be unsafe.

02:58There have for months now been squatters living in some of those homes, more than a couple

03:04of dozen squatters at times.

03:07Yesterday, the premier said he wanted to see the homes that those people were living in

03:11destroyed.

03:12Now, some of the squatters say they've got nowhere else to go.

03:15We spoke to one gentleman yesterday who was homeless, who had been living in his car,

03:20but he said those homes at least provided a roof over his head.

03:23But nonetheless, the planning minister, Paul Scully, who's been in Lismore today, says

03:28the government won't be changing its stance.

03:30We've got people who are illegally occupying homes that we bought back because they're

03:34in dangerous locations, right?

03:37This is not a sport.

03:38This is not a game.

03:39This is not a free accommodation provided by the New South Wales government.

03:44These sites were identified because it's dangerous to live in.

03:49And the government says it has made offers to try to get alternative accommodation for

03:53those people, but it says it's simply not safe for them to stay.

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