00:00 While more assistance has been announced by the Federal Government, the Prime Minister
00:05 Anthony Albanese has announced $20 million as part of a clean-up program, not only for
00:10 the southeast but also for the far north in the aftermath of ex-tropical cyclone Jasper.
00:16 Now severe thunderstorms here in the southeast over that holiday period have caused significant
00:21 damage to local residents.
00:23 The clean-up effort is estimated to take no longer just months but now years in the recovery
00:29 process.
00:30 There's been more than 10 damaged homes, homes that have been completely written off according
00:36 to initial assessments and there's been more than 130,000 homes that were without power
00:41 up to two weeks following those initial events.
00:44 On Sunday most were restored.
00:47 There are still a few homes about that are still without power but now it's up to individual
00:51 contractors to reconnect those homes.
00:54 We've also heard up to $75,000 grants are going to be provided for primary producers
00:59 today as well as $50,000 grants for those small businesses.
01:03 Now there are one-off relief payments for those people that are affected in the southeast,
01:09 up to $1,000 per eligible adult and $400 per eligible child and that's for the Gold Coast,
01:15 Scenic Rim and Logan areas and surrounding suburbs that have been impacted.
01:20 The Prime Minister Anthony Albanese admitted that it is going to be a long road ahead.
01:26 We know that there is more to do and we're here to say that we're putting our shoulder
01:31 to the wheel to make sure that can be done.
01:33 It's been a very difficult period, particularly coming as it did around Christmas and New
01:40 Year, a time when people look forward to celebrating the relationships they have with family and
01:47 friends, not going through the tough time that they had.
01:51 So my heart goes out to all those who have been directly affected and I say that governments,
01:57 federal, state and local will be here with you.
02:00 I'm here in Springfield Lakes where we saw nearly 131 millimetres within a three hour
02:05 period.
02:06 This lake behind me was ankle deep where I'm standing right now.
02:10 Thankfully a lot of those waters have since resided but we've spoken to many residents
02:15 in Kameara which is about 10 minutes away and they say that they woke up this morning
02:20 to basically waterfront properties.
02:22 The water was lapping at their doors.
02:24 Many say that they haven't seen water levels like this since 2022.
02:29 One resident I spoke with, Janelle Ryan, says that she was told by previous owners that
02:34 the major flood level was not going to reach her property and today it nearly doubled the
02:39 level that she had seen previously.
02:41 So it is quite a major concern for many.
02:44 The rain here in the south east has been quite relentless over the last few weeks and the
02:49 grounds are fairly sodden and soaked so the concern for many residents is if we are to
02:54 see more of these rain events in the future there could be more flash flooding as well.
02:59 [BLANK_AUDIO]
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