An unprecedented disaster Gold Coasters face heatwave with no power
Gold Coast residents are facing a possible heatwave as about 50,000 residents are left without power after “unprecedented” Christmas Day storms.
About 63 per cent of customers have been reconnected to power as a crew of 500 works to restore all of the electricity lines for residents and tourists on holiday.
Queensland Police Commissioner Katarina Carroll said emergency services in every area including SES, police and ambulance, received a record amount of calls after the storm.
“It is what I would say an unprecedented disaster in this part of the world,” Carroll said.
“We’ve never seen anything like this in this part of the world.
“The damage is extraordinary and it’s across such a large geographic area.”
Crews are still working to restore Cairns, meaning large-scale recoveries are happening in both parts of the state.
Energex aims to have 90 per cent of households reconnected by December 31.
The 10 per cent who are most affected are in Mount Tambourine and Jimboomba.
“The advice is that those areas aren’t able to have power restored, they’ll need to have a power system rebuilt,” Energy Minister Mick de Brenni said.
“The damage is so significant that we will have to rebuild the house network in those communities.
“So in the meantime, those communities will need alternative generation solutions and we’re in currently investigating and scoping options for those,” de Brenni said.
Energex has released a Queensland Christmas Day storm event restoration plan on their website that outlines when suburbs and streets can expect to have their power reconnected.
“The amount of vegetation down road access the heat that’s out there of course and some of the very challenging terrain,” de Brenni said.
De Brenni warned people not to use generators indoors and to still be careful around fallen powerlines.
The Bureau of Meteorology is forecasting 33 degrees for Gold Coast today and 32 degrees tomorrow.
Resident Tim Sewell said eight trees came down out the back of its place after the storm came on so quickly.
“We were hanging on to our front door because it wasn’t latched and it was pitch black at night,” Sewell told Today.
“We had a window blow out, glass and leaves and a fine mist of water was spraying through the air.
“It was really intense. We didn’t know if it was going to end.”
Winds hit the area at 105km/h, causing hundreds of concrete poles to fall.
Sewell said there was frustration from residents who have had boundary fences knocked down and might not get their power back until New Years’ Eve.
He said there was no fuel or power in nearby shops and Bunnings could only take cash.
“I don’t know what everyone else is doing really, because we can’t get out.”
‘Two Cyclone Jaspers… at once’
The clean-up efforts have been hampered by major telecommunication outages across the northern end of the Gold Coast.
Energex’s Mitchum Maguire told Today it was the worst storm he had seen in over 20 years.
Maguire said they had restored power to 80,000 homes after 130,000 residents were affected.
“What we have seen on the Gold Coast is the equivalent of two Tropical Cyclone Jaspers hitting us at once,” Maguire said.
“We are not only dealing with a normal storm, there are areas of power lines we will have to completely rebuild.
“Restoration times will be different depending on where you live, suburb to suburb.”
Major roads are still closed, which is making it difficult for the 500- person crew to restore power.
“It’s going to be very hot.
“There are snapped poles, lots of power lines down with massive trees that have brought them down… We are in the process of getting those cleared.”
He said some communities were still inaccessible and they were being patrolled by air.
“Lots of people are on the ground, and we have lots of resources, but the damage is extensive.
“It’s like nothing we have seen outside of a cyclone zone before on the Gold Coast.”
The State Emergency Service (SES) has confirmed crews from NSW are coming in to assist in the recovery effort.
Financial assistance of $180 per person and $900 for families has been made available by the state government.
The requirements for a resident to claim assistance have been extended and 30,000 applications have been made so far.
More storms coming
Meteorologist from the weather bureau Sarah Scully said there were more storms forecast for South East Queensland today but they were expected to be isolated and not as destructive.
Scully said the storm happened after all the right weather ingredients came together.
“There was high humidity over eastern Australia, we had a low pressure system that stalled and intensified over the south-east and also the upper levels of the atmosphere also were really supportive for thunderstorm development,” Scully said.
“Supercells are the most dangerous thunderstorms around and there were a number that formed right through Queensland, NSW and Victoria.”
She said more thunderstorms were expected for east Queensland and north east NSW until the new year.
“We are in the middle of the severe weather season and that goes right through until April.”
Six deaths
Six people have died from the storms in the state.
Three people were killed when a large boat with 11 people on board capsized on Boxing Day near Brisbane.
Eight people were rescued from the downed vessel just off Green Island at Moreton Bay but the bodies of three men aged 48, 69 and 59 were found in the water.
A 46-year-old woman was found dead at Mary River near Gympie yesterday after she and two others were swept away in a storm drain near Kidd Bridge at 3.20pm.
There was also the tragic death of a young girl named Mia, 9, who was found dead after she went missing during floods at Logan on Boxing Day.
A falling tree also killed a woman on the Gold Coast on Christmas Day.
