Qld: Storms hit southern Queensland

AAP General News (Australia)
12-23-2001
Qld: Storms hit southern Queensland

BRISBANE, Dec 23 AAP - More than 23,000 houses were left without power last night as
storms caused millions of dollars damage to houses on the Gold Coast.

Homes in the Boonah and Rathdowney areas southwest of Brisbane were also hit by the
storms, which brought down trees on to houses and cars and left many areas without power
until this morning.

The worst affected areas were Ashmore, Southport and Runaway Bay.

Premier Peter Beattie said state disaster relief arrangements had been activated to
help people repair the damage to their houses and property.

He said that there had been 193 requests to emergency services for assistance on the
Gold Coast, with a further 31 requests from the Boonah shire.

"Early estimates of damage to private property on the Gold Coast are more than $5 million
and more than $1.5 million in the Boonah area," Mr Beattie said.

"Mostly the damage is from trees crashing onto private property and, of course, houses."

Mr Beattie said most of the requests for help were for tarpaulins to secure properties.

He said the cleanup was expected to take a couple of days and people could apply for
disaster relief assistance if they were suffering hardship because of the damage.

"This assistance will be means tested and the relief arrangements will also be used
to help meet the cost of the clean up operations," Mr Beattie said.

The weather bureau has predicted more storms could hit the south-east corner of the
state late today or tonight.

AAP jfs/mjm/de

KEYWORD: STORMS QLD

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