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JASPER IN DEFIANCE DECEMBER 22, 2023
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COV E R I N G M O S S M A N TO T H E C A S S OWA RY COAS T
FNQ recovers after record-breaking, devastating rain and floods l FAR NORTH | Nick Dalton THE Far North is in the recovery stage, leading towards a multibillion-dollar rebuild, after record-breaking rain and floods devastated vast areas of the region, including houses, farms, businesses, roads and bridges. Premier Steven Miles was in Cairns on Wednesday and said so far there had been no flood-related deaths, although police held “grave fears” for an 85-year-old man still missing from Degarra, near Wujal Wujal. He said it was remarkable there had been no deaths or serious injuries as of Wednesday morning. The areas most impacted included Machans and Holloways beaches, Caravonica, Yorkeys Knob, Mossman, Wujal Wujal and Degarra. Thirty-one localities were deemed isolated. Mr Miles said police were no longer receiving “life-threatening phone calls” and the evacuation of Wujal Wujal was still underway with the help of army Chinook helicopters. So far 97 of the estimated 250 residents had been flown to Cooktown. He said more resources were pouring into the Far North to undertake damage assessments and relieve other exhausted emergency service workers. High visibility police patrols
Cairns Airport’s runway was an island surrounded by floodwaters on Sunday, yet re-opened for business on Tuesday morning. Picture: Liv Cole
were in place to prevent looting, although there had been no reports. “There have been no reports of crocodiles however they remain a concern,” Mr Miles said. More than 1700 properties have been assessed with at least 1400 considered damaged. State Disaster Recovery Minister Nikki Boyd said one home,
(in Oleander St, Holloways Beach) was destroyed, while 58 were severely damaged, 187 were rated moderate and 226 minor. Mr Miles said 80 per cent of homes and businesses which had lost power were now back on line and by tomorrow that would reach 97 per cent. An Ergon Energy spokes-
woman said crews were making great progress and power had been restored to the vast majority of customers. “50,000 customers were affected by cyclone and flood-related outages at the peak of the severe weather events,” she said. “We are aiming to have network supply or mobile generation available to customers in the
worst-affected areas by Christmas Eve.” Federal Disaster Management Minister Murray Watts said it was “terrific to see a hive of activity” as the areas most affected were cleaned up. He said major contractors would be engaged to help councils in the clean-up which could cost $100 million, but he would not put a figure on the overall re-
Merry C hristmas and Happy New Year
Season’s greetings to all our loyal readers and advertisers. Thank you for your support this year and we look forward to 2024. Our thoughts are with the region’s flood victims and we wish them all the best in their recovery and rebuild. We close from December 23, returning January 8, 2024. Our next edition is Friday, January 12, 2024.
pair bill which would be “very expensive”, especially roads and bridges. Mr Watt said a priority was ensuring isolated communities received vital supplies such as food, water and medicine. He said the region would have access to a new national stockpile of emergency housing. CONTINUED PAGE 2