More than $13.2 million in personal hardship assistance grants have been paid out to assist more than 64,700 Redland City residents impacted by Tropical Cyclone Alfred.
Mayor and Local Disaster Management Group chair Jos Mitchell said the number of grant applications was indicative of the impact of the cyclone, which crossed the coast as a tropical low on 7 March.
“Redlands Coast, in particular our islands, was one of the first areas to feel the impacts of the cyclone, which left more than 41,000 households without power, some for more than one week,” the Mayor said.
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“We thank the Queensland Government for responding quickly and activating personal financial hardship assistance grants for the whole of Redland City on 8 March.
“Of the grants available, more than 58,800 people, or 37 per cent of the city’s population, benefitted from Emergency Hardship Assistance totalling more than $10.4 million to help them get food, clothing, medical supplies or temporary accommodation.
“Essential Services Hardship Assistance totalling more than $2.5 million helped 17,028 residents who lost one or more essential services, such as power or sewerage, for more than five consecutive days.
“The assistance would have been welcomed by residents to help with their clean up and recovery.”
Deputy Mayor and Local Disaster Recovery Group chair Julie Talty said impacted residents were also supported through the opening of Community Recovery Hubs on the mainland and pop-up hubs on the six residential islands between 10 March and 11 April.
“The hubs were established with the support of the Queensland Government Community Recovery Branch and were staffed by state and commonwealth partner agencies and non-government organisations,” Cr Talty said.
“They were an important one-stop-shop for information on grants, psychological first aid and referral services and were accessed by 4613 people, more than 52 per cent of those at an island-based pop-up.
“The Community Recovery Hotline was also a valuable resource for residents, with 66,806 calls relating to the cyclone made over five weeks.”
