By SONJA KOREMANS
ALMOST a week after storms tore through the Southern Downs, the mop-up task continues with streets still strewn with branches, homes and community facilities awaiting repair, and some roads only just re-opening.
Council, businesses and households have been left with hefty clean-up bills in the wake of wild weather on Friday night which brought flash flooding and wind gusts of up to 90km/h in the Warwick region.
Almost 5000 people were left without power for several hours and woke to scenes of destruction with fallen trees and power lines – some live – over houses, cars and roads.
Southern Downs Regional Council mayor Peter Blundell said the municipal clean-up bill would be considerable, with more than 20 council workers called in over the weekend to clear debris, and significant damage to some community facilities, including children’s playgrounds.
But the region fared better than other parts of the state hit by the storm cell, particularly Queensland’s south-east where five people lost their lives and many were left homeless by the floodwaters.
Insurance companies have received about 7500 claims, with initial losses estimated at $26 million, according to the Insurance Council of Australia (ICA).
Most of these claims are from businesses and residents in Queensland’s south east.
ICA CEO Rob Whelan said the flow of claims was initially slow over the weekend.
“But large numbers of claims were lodged on Sunday. Insurers expect many more will be lodged this week and are standing by to assist their customers,“ Mr Whelan said.
Most claims were for damage from water entering homes due to leaking roofs and overflowing gutters, although some properties have been completely inundated, he said.
Insurance Australia Group (IAG) which represents NRMA Insurance CGU and SGIO said there had been few claims from the Darling Downs.
“It is still early but we encourage policyholders to get claims in as soon as possible so that we can assist in lodging those claims and getting repairs done,“ an IAG spokesman said.
The storms dumped a 24-hour rainfall of 52mm on Warwick – the heaviest May rainfall in the city since 2009.
