Several towns in Queensland were without water on Sunday as emergency services worked to clean up after ex-tropical cyclone Marcia, which ripped through Rockhampton and nearby areas on Friday.
Rockhampton deputy mayor Tony Williams told Guardian Australia it was the biggest natural disaster to hit the town in his lifetime.
“I was born and raised in Rockhampton,” he said. “We’ve had cyclones before but usually off the coast. We’ve had floods that have cut the town off for weeks, and we had a bushfire that was declared a national disaster in 2009.”
“This event trumps any that the community has faced before.”
Deputy prime minister, Warren Truss, toured affected areas on Sunday and announced that residents who suffered damage to their homes would be eligible for the federal government’s disaster recovery payment or up to $1,000 per adult or $400 per child.
Funding is also available under the joint federal and state natural disaster benefit and recovery arrangements.
Williams said at least 600 homes were damaged by the cyclone or subsequent floodwater, but added that was a conservative estimate. The official damage figure is 550 homes. Australian Defence Force personnel, who arrived in Rockhampton on Sunday, have only just begun assessing the damage. A further 200 ADF personnel will arrive in Rockhampton and Yeppoon on Sunday night.
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