Thousands of customers are still without power across our region following Monday’s severe storms.
Around 38-thousand homes and businesses were without power in the south-east earlier today, down from a peak of more than 160,000 went the storms hit on Monday afternoon.
24,000 customers in Moreton still have no electricity, 7200 in Noosa, 4000 on the Sunshine Coast and 600 in the Gympie area.
Almost a quarter of those still without electricity are on Bribie Island which is one of the worst hit areas.
The outage stretches from Bribie, to the Sunshine Coast and north to the Gympie council area.
Energex spokesman Justin Coomber says power may not be restored in the worst hit areas of Bribie Island and the Sunshine Coast until Thursday night.
He said most properties should be reconnected by tonight.
More than 300 crews have been brought in and there are still around 400 power lines down.
Sunshine Coast Mayor Rosanna Natoli says authorities are looking at bringing in generators today to help people cope without power.
She said Council is also in contact with Telstra to get mobile phone and internet services fixed as many people are experiencing problems.
Councillor Natoli said Council arborists have received almost 350 calls to remove trees from properties and cars across the region.
If you have green waste you can take it to any refuse centres on the Sunshine Coast for free until Sunday afternoon.
State Emergency Service crews are back on the job today helping clear trees and vegetation from homes, cars and streets.
SES Acting Regional Director Jason Pascoe says they’ve received 334 calls for help so far.
He has praised the work of volunteers who are juggling family and work commitments with their SES roles.
Meanwhile, insurers have already received more than 16-thousand claims across more than 140 postcodes from the severe thunderstorms on Sunday and Monday.
The Insurance Council of Australia has declared the storms an insurance catastrophe.
Under the catastrophe declaration, claims will be escalated and prioritised.
ICA Deputy CEO Kylie Macfarlane says while it’s too early to estimate the insurance damage bill it’s expected the number of claims will rise as power returns to homes.
Four schools remain closed in our region in the wake of the storms.
It’s understood the closures are due to IT issues and having no power.
Three state schools on Bribie Island are shut and one at Beachmere.
Two independent schools are also closed at Beachmere and Caboolture.
Meanwhile, Australia Zoo Wildlife Hospital is looking after more than 60 animals injured in Monday’s storm.
The zoo says the storm caused mass habitat destruction tearing down trees, wrecking nests and leaving countless baby animals stranded on the ground.
Birds are most affected but the zoo says it’s treating a ringtail possum that fell from a tree….her two joeys were clinging to her back and aren’t injured.
More severe storms are forecast for the south-east today.
