BRISBANE – People in small Queensland towns battered by Cyclone Marcia are being asked to be patient while they wait for help.
Three days after Marcia crossed the central Queensland coast as a category five storm, some residents say they’re still on their own, with no power, water or phone services.
At Byfield, close to where the cyclone made landfall at Shoalwater Bay on Friday, some locals said an ABC news crew was the only contact they’d had with the outside world.
Assistant Police Commissioner Mike Condon said that wasn’t true, and plain clothes police reached Byfield on the day Marcia hit. More help would arrive on Monday.
He said many small communities had been affected and promised help was on its way.
“I ask people to be patient. We will get to you,” he said in Rockhampton yesterday.
Meanwhile, the recovery effort is hitting top gear in the larger, hard-hit communities of Yeppoon and Rockhampton, where 1500 homes have been damaged.
But some of the progress has been undone by thieves, who have stolen four generators flown in to operate traffic lights while the power is out.
“The frustrating part is those generators are put there for the safety of the community. We have been lucky we haven’t had any serious accidents,” he said.
