Tamborine Mountain has once again copped the brunt of a major weather even – suffering major impacts from ex Tropical Cyclone Alfred.
Overnight rainfall impacted a large area of the Scenic Rim and residents of Tamborine Mountain were already struggling with power outages and lack of mobile phone or internet coverage.
By Monday afternoon Scenic Rim Council identified 100 state roads, 86 bridges and 302 local roads impacted by floodwaters.
Division 1 Councillor Amanda Hay said there were clear differences between the Christmas night tornado that ripped through the mountain in 2023 and the cyclonic winds that took out trees and power poles last weekend.
“There’s more water than there was with the last one and there’s less structural and rood damage,” she said.
“I think people were better prepared too, because we had a lot of lead time for this one, so people were better prepared with fuel for their generators and stocking up on essentials.
“But it’s just a case of if your house is low lying, you’re going to have water through it no matter how prepared you are.”
Cr Hay said that to avoid the need for Tamborine Mountain residents to drive to Oxenford for fuel there would be a generator delivered to reopen the local service station.
The designated place of refuge on the mountain had shifted from the Vonda Youngman Community Centre to the Presbyterian Church, with Council paying for fuel to run the generator.
Cr Hay said a crowd turned up on Monday, mostly to charge their electronic devices, use the facilities and chat with other locals.
The church had previously been set up as a sandbagging site run by the Bushrats Rugly League senior team and Cr Hay said she had redirected a pallet load of 2000 sandbags to the church before the storms hit.
Soldiers from the Kokoda barracks at Canungra pitched in to support the community “chainsaw army” and members of the Bushrats Rugby League club to clear fallen trees and debris off local roads.
Cr Hay also welcomed locals to her home, with her spare bedroom offered to someone who had been flooded out of their home.
“With our generator we actually have a working TV so people were dropping in and out yesterday, having a cup of tea, watching the telly to catch up on what was happening with the cyclone,” she said.
“But we’ve got lots of police. We’ve got police officers from up north and lots of emergency services. The only thing we haven’t got is power.
‘People are charging their mobile phones at the church or the Police Beat mobile van outside the IGA.”
Cr Hay said NBN workers had turned up on 10 March to establish a connectivity hub.
“They’re leaving the blue NBN van out front where it’s visible from the main road,” she said.
Cr Hay said Council’s disaster management group had done a better job providing advice and information compared to the Christmas 2023 event.
“The local disaster management setup was far better,” she said.
“Cr Moriarty has been very proactive and though there have been some comments about poor communication, I think that has been more to do with the networks.”
Places of refuge opened after the overnight deluge included Tamborine Memorial Hall, the Presbyterian Church on Tamborine Mountain and Providence hall in Beechmont. While it was previously made clear that domestic animals would not be allowed at places of refuge, a Council spokeswoman confirmed that service dogs would be accepted.
