Key Points
- Personal hardship assistance grants have been offered to residents in northern Queensland.
- More than 10,000 customers remain without electricity after Tropical Cyclone Kirrily hit the region on Thursday.
- Individuals will receive grants of up to $180 and families of five or more can access up to $900.
Disaster assistance has been extended to cyclone-affected residents in northern Queensland where
Personal hardship assistance grants have been offered to residents of the Townsville and Burdekin shires after Tropical Cyclone Kirrily lashed the coast last week.
It comes as more than 10,000 customers remain without electricity on Sunday afternoon following the cyclone, according to Ergon Energy, with crews working around the clock to restore power. About 66,000 customers experienced a power outage at the peak of the cyclone’s crossing.
Grants of up to $180 for individuals and up to $900 for families of five or more were announced on Saturday night, via the Disaster Recovery Funding Arrangements jointly funded by the federal and Queensland governments.
Residents are cleaning up after strong winds hit the region on Thursday evening along with rainfall totals between 100mm and 150mm, but minimal property damage was recorded.
Queensland Premier Steven Miles on Saturday said power outages were also affecting phone networks and water supply for around 10,000 households and urged those affected to continue conserving water.
Parts of Queensland remain at risk of rain and flooding as ex-cyclone Kirrily moves across the state’s northern interior, the Bureau of Meteorology warned.
Heavy rain fell overnight Saturday-Sunday in the Lockyer Valley west of Brisbane, the Central Highlands and northwest Queensland, with the bureau issuing flood warnings for numerous rivers.
Kirrily follows the destructive in December bringing heavy rain, widespread isolation and major flooding.
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