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Minister admits that mistakes were made in SEQ flood response

The Queensland government will seek to address mistakes made during the response to floods sparked by tropical ex-cyclone Seth as the full extent of the recovery becomes clearer.

Jan 18, 2022, updated Jan 18, 2022
Council workers clean up damage caused by floodwaters in Maryborough, 220km north of Brisbane, Tuesday. More than 30 inner-city blocks were issued with an evacuation order after the remnants of tropical cyclone Seth dumped 600mm of rain on the Wide Bay-Burnett region in two days. (AAP Image/Paul Beutel)

Council workers clean up damage caused by floodwaters in Maryborough, 220km north of Brisbane, Tuesday. More than 30 inner-city blocks were issued with an evacuation order after the remnants of tropical cyclone Seth dumped 600mm of rain on the Wide Bay-Burnett region in two days. (AAP Image/Paul Beutel)

Deputy Premier Steven Miles has been touring the affected region about three hours north of Brisbane, and has heard community concern over a response that could have been “better and faster”.

“That’s one of the reasons that I’m here … to hear about those concerns and seek to address them,” Mr Miles said from the rural town of Dallarnil on Tuesday.

“I don’t think there’s much use in hashing over that, other than to make sure we don’t make those mistakes again.

“From here, let’s make sure we address them and make sure that the community has what they need.”

The visit comes as financial assistance is rolled out across flood-hit areas, with grants of up to $50,000 available for small businesses and primary producers.

An “extraordinarily large” area was affected, with people losing homes and livelihoods as a result, Queensland Reconstruction Authority chief executive Brendan Moon said.

“At all stages we were in contact with the local mayors and also the councillors as part of our recovery planning,” he said on Tuesday.

“We activated relief measures when we got the information available at that local level.

“The support was rolled out as soon as we fully understood the extent of the impact of this particular event.”

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Two people were killed in the floods that hit six local government areas.

Meanwhile, the search for teenager Krystal Cain continues.

The 14-year-old became separated from her father after their car became submerged near Booubyjan on January 8.

A GoFundMe page set up for the family of the missing teenager has raised just under $8500.

The flood recovery effort is expected to take several years, according to Gympie Mayor Glen Hartwig.

 

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