Clean-up begins in flood-ravaged city
A volunteer army waded through stinking mud and drenched homes today in a massive clean-up operation as floodwaters receded in Australia’s third-largest city.
About 7,000 residents joined 600 military personnel in what was dubbed Salvation Saturday to shovel the muck and clean houses and businesses inundated by the Brisbane River earlier this week, another casualty of weeks of flooding across the state of Queensland.
Armed with mops, brooms, garbage bags and cleaning supplies, the volunteers were bused to the areas of Brisbane most in need.
Sue Pearson, who lives in a mostly unaffected part of the city, came to a volunteer centre with her husband and two children after witnessing the devastation.
“We couldn’t believe what we were seeing on television and thought we wanted to give up Saturday to come help and do what we could,” Ms Pearson told Sky News. “So we grabbed a few brooms and spades and came down here today.”
Brisbane Mayor Campbell Newman praised the overwhelming turnout.
“Everybody rolls up their sleeves in this town,” Mr Newman said. He warned, however, that the complete clean-up of the city would take months, and that reconstruction could take up to two years.
The floodwaters that swamped entire neighbourhoods in Brisbane, the state capital, have left behind a thick layer of putrid sludge that covered streets and thousands of houses.
More than 30,000 homes and businesses were flooded with muddy water and officials warned some residents their homes were so badly damaged they would need to be destroyed.
Some parts of the electricity network in southeastern Queensland were washed away in the flooding, and energy supplier Energex said more than 28,650 properties were still without power.
It planned to restore power to more properties today as floodwaters receded, allowing greater access to infrastructure.
Weeks of relentless rains and flooding across Australia’s northeast have left 26 people dead, with 28 others still missing.
Most of the people unaccounted for are from the Lockyer Valley and the nearby city of Toowoomba, where a sudden downpour on Monday caused a flash flood likened to an inland tsunami.
The overflowing rivers and continued rain in some parts of Australia led to flood alerts in four other states today.
