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Australia - Source: ONE News -
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Frustrated residents of cyclone-ravaged Airlie Beach, on the
fringe of the Great Barrier Reef, say surviving the storm may have
been the easy part.
Tourists have scavenged in bins for food, and communities are at
risk of running out of water after 200km/h winds from the category
three cyclone, which crossed the north Queensland coast on Sunday
morning, cut power to homes, businesses and utilities.
About 26,000 residents and businesses in Mackay and surrounds were
without power on Monday afternoon, but Ergon Energy was working to
restore electricity to most places by Monday night.
Authorities say Mackay and Airlie Beach are at risk of running out
of water and urged residents who had power to not waste
water.
Hotels at Airlie Beach are telling visitors to leave or brace for
an uncomfortable stay as supplies run low.
"If we don't get the power back soon, we will look back at the
cyclone as the easy part," Airlie Beach Hotel general manager Mark
Bell said.
Guests are being advised that there will be no running water or
phone connections in Airlie Beach for some time.
The local Lions club put on a sausage sizzle after hearing of
backpackers desperate to find food.
"We've had reports of people sifting through rubbish bins for food,
so we've asked the Lions Club to come in and help out," Whitsunday
mayor Mike Brunker said.
With only one service station in town vehicles were backed up for
hundreds of metres waiting for fuel for up to one hour.
The Mackay Regional Council says people with water were taking
advantage of the dry weather to hose down paths and do loads of
washing, sparking fears water supplies would run out.
"If that type of water use was kept up, we'd run the risk of
running out of water," councillor Deirdre Comerford said.
Premier Anna Bligh, who extended her southern Queensland flood
appeal to raise money for the state's cyclone-hit north, is also
worried about water.
"Right now that water supply is sufficient because they are using
back-up generator power, but that is not sustainable in the long
term," she said.
Bligh said the damage bill from Ului will put further pressure on
the state budget following hundreds of millions of dollars worth of
damage caused by the flooding earlier in the month in southwest
Queensland.
She said it was unknown how the fisheries, coal and tourism
industries would fare in the wake of the cyclone.
And it would be up to five days until sugar cane losses were
known.
Centrelink social workers have been allocated to cyclone-affected
areas.
Human Services Minister Chris Bowen said the federal government had
paid out $4.5 million to date in disaster relief following the
floods.
On Monday afternoon ex-tropical cyclone Ului was east of Cloncurry
and moving west, bringing localised heavy rain and
thunderstorms.
