Far north Queensland is “stuck in recovery mode” after ex-Cyclone Jasper caused catastrophic flooding, Warren Entsch says.
The weather system crossed the coast near the remote Indigenous community of Wujal Wujal, 120km north of Cairns, in mid December, dumping more than a metre of rain on surrounding communities. The army was mobilised as people fled to rooftops to survive the flood waters, and the entire population of Wujal Wujal was evacuated.
The federal MP for Leichhardt said some remote communities in his electorate remained practically cut off.
“Nobody could have imagined the devastation, communities were completely wiped out,” he said. “Cape Tribulation pretty much relies 100% on tourists. But the roads are still very unstable so they’ve got no visitors.
“There’s nobody there to create any sort of income to pay the bills.”
Entsch said most locals in Wujal Wujal had been relocated while the government rebuilds public housing. Downstream at the community of Degarra, bush properties had been “obliterated”. Residents were now living in caravans.
Applications for government payments for uninsured businesses and homes had been cumbersome, Entsch said.
“Businesses could not access any funding to re-establish themselves because they were waiting on the insurance to make a decision as to whether they were going to approve their claim,” he said. “And insurers were dragging their feet.”
“We need to look at how we manage it in the future because it’s going to happen again.”
The small community of Machans Beach faced severe flooding in the wake of the cyclone as water surged across the Barron River flood plain.
Deryck Thompson, the treasurer of the local community association, said more than 75 homes that were flooded remained vacant awaiting repairs.
“There are still a lot of tears in our little community,” Thompson said. “For many it may be Christmas before they can move back into their homes.”
Up the coast in Mossman, Steve Wust’s dental clinic flooded. It is the only private practice in town so he has kept the doors open in less than ideal conditions.
“We’ve got to mop the floor between every patient because there’s brown water coming up out of the floor,” Wust said. “The cabinets are held on with sticky tape. And there could be mould in growing in the walls.
“There’s so few tradesman and the demand is so high. November is the earliest we can get a quote, let alone get anything done.”
As of 22 January, there have been 8,068 insurance claims made relating to ex-Cyclone Jasper and subsequent flooding, the Insurance Council of Australia said. The insured losses are estimated at $202m.
“Our members have been on the ground, working with impacted communities and are responding to claims as quickly as possible,” an insurance council spokesperson said.
There have also been 5,666 claims made in relation to ex-Cyclone Kirrily, which made landfall near Townsville in late January, causing 64,000 homes to lose power.
The chief executive of the Queensland Trucking Association, Gary Mahon, said a vital inland freight route destroyed by flood damage from ex-Cyclone Jasper had reopened on 10 February.
“We are pleased the government has been able to do some repairs as promptly as they can but we’ve still got substantially dampened operations,” Mahon said.
“There are significant repairs being undertaken all around Queensland, particularly in the north. But they are almost a normal course of events at this point. We are aware of where the delays are and that’s factored into journeys.”
