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Darkness to light for storm-hit residents as recovery charges up

ADF arrives to help with Qld clean-up

Residents left in the dark for days are set to finally have power restored after wild weather lashed south-east Queensland.

Queensland Premier Steven Miles said the region was in “recovery mode” with more Australian Defence Force troops arriving on Friday to assist the hardest-hit areas.

More than 50 ADF personnel are expected to be on the ground by Friday to help with the clean-up effort after storms across the Christmas-New Year period destroyed homes and left thousands without power.

Seven people died in storm-related incidents in the southeast.

At one stage, more than 130,000 people were hit by blackouts.

More than 6000 are still without electricity but most should be restored by Friday.

Miles warned about 900 homes had suffered major electrical damage.

“In those 900 cases, even when we get the electricity connected to their street, that house cannot be reconnected until the electrical work in the home has been checked and certified,” he said.

More than 1000 energy crews have been on the ground in recent days after storms caused “unprecedented levels of damage” to the network, destroying hundreds of power poles.

More rain is on the way for south-east Queensland and northern NSW on Friday but the Bureau of Meteorology does not expect a repeat of recent wild weather.

“Southeast Queensland and northeastern NSW could see another stormy afternoon on Friday,” the bureau’s Angus Hines said.

“This is significant because these areas have been hit very hard by severe thunderstorms, heavy rain and flooding through the first couple of days of the year.”

The Gold Coast endured a tornado on Christmas Day, while Logan and the Scenic Rim regions were hit hard after storms were followed by heavy rain and flash flooding.

The Gold Coast, Logan and Scenic Rim councils have each received $1 million in funding from the state government to assist with the clean-up.

More than 3000 homes were impacted by the storms, with 10 destroyed and 145 suffering severe damage.

Emergency Minister Nikki Boyd said damage assessments are continuing but believed they had documented the “most severely damaged properties”.

After returning from a brief family holiday, Miles visited the Gold Coast to oversee the recovery effort on Thursday.

He defended his decision to take two days off on the Sunshine Coast this week amid state opposition criticism.

He said he was constantly in touch with the disaster response.

Miles will visit flood-hit far north Queensland on Friday.

-AAP

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