Trouble in cyclone-ravaged towns

A yacht lies against a boat ramp at Airlie Beach after being washed to shore by Cyclone Ului.

Evan Schwarten

Photos

Cyclone Ului - in pictures

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Further information

Local weather forecast

Bureau of Meteorology warnings

FRUSTRATED residents of cyclone-ravaged Airlie Beach say surviving the storm may have been the “easy part”.

Tourists have scavenged in bins for food, and communities are at risk of running out of water after 200kmh winds from the category three cyclone, which crossed the north Queensland coast on Sunday morning, cut power to homes, businesses and utilities.

About 26,000 residents and businesses in Mackay and surrounds were without power yesterday afternoon, but Ergon Energy was working to restore electricity to most places by last night.

Authorities say Mackay and Airlie Beach are at risk of running out of water and urged residents who had power to not waste water.

Hotels at Airlie Beach are telling visitors to leave or brace for an uncomfortable stay as supplies run low.

“If we don’t get the power back soon, we will look back at the cyclone as the easy part,” Airlie Beach Hotel general manager Mark Bell said.

Guests are being advised that there will be no running water or phone connections in Airlie Beach for some time.

The local Lions club put on a sausage sizzle after hearing of backpackers desperate to find food.

“We’ve had reports of people sifting through rubbish bins for food, so we’ve asked the Lions Club to come in and help out,” Whitsunday mayor Mike Brunker said.

With only one service station in town, vehicles were backed up for hundreds of metres waiting for fuel for up to an hour.

The Mackay Regional Council said people with water were taking advantage of the dry weather to hose down paths and do loads of washing, sparking fears water supplies would run out.

“If that type of water use was kept up, we’d run the risk of running out of water,” councillor Deirdre Comerford said.

Centrelink social workers have been allocated to cyclone-affected areas.

Human Services Minister Chris Bowen said the Federal Government had paid out $3.5 million to date in disaster relief following the floods.

Yesterday afternoon ex-tropical cyclone Ului was east of Cloncurry and moving west, bringing localised heavy rain and thunderstorms.