The State Recovery Co-ordinator’s report into February’s South-East Queensland floods shows both the scale of the disaster and the recovery work under way.
Premier, Annastacia Palaszczuk thanked State Recovery Co-ordinator, Major-General Jake Ellwood for the report, which she said would chart the way forward.
“These floods cost 13 lives. More than 9,000 homes were damaged,” Ms Palaszczuk said.
“By any measure, this was one of the most devastating natural disasters in our history,” she said.
“It requires an equally historic effort to repair what was lost and do everything we can to ensure people are protected from suffering the same losses again.”
Among the findings in the report were estimated social, financial and economic losses of $7.7 billion; 21,500 calls for help to the State Emergency Services, and more than 98,000 insurance claims leading to $1.3 billion being spent on damaged property and assets.
The Queensland Reconstruction Authority has begun contact with people prioritised for voluntary home buy-back.
The initial priority location is Goodna East because of the extent of the disaster impact and flood risk. So far, 31 home owners have been contacted and have confirmed their interest.
The Department of Energy and Public Works is undertaking home assessments with those who have registered interest.
Major-General Ellwood paid tribute to the resilience of Queenslanders.
“You see the very best of Queenslanders at the worst of times,” Major-General Ellwood said.
“This plan finds a way forward for recovery, but also focuses on resilience to mitigate the impacts of future flooding events.”
