Thousands of homes without power, rooves ripped off houses, tourists trapped, and debris lining the streets – Cyclone Debbie has left parts of Queensland looking more like a war zone.
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On Thursday, a team of Tasmanians flew to Brisbane, responding to an urgent request for assistance in the recovery effort.
Emergency services personnel from the Tasmania Fire Service, the State Emergency Service, and the Parks and Wildlife Service will lend a helping hand to their interstate counterparts.
The Tasmanian team will work in the operations and logistics areas in an attempt to restore a sense of normality back to the hard-hit community.
TFS operations officer Andrew McConnon said he was expecting to see scenes of devastation, misplaced people, and loss when he arrived on the ground.
“It’s all part of the recovery … it’s getting power back, cutting trees, tarping rooves and trying to make people feel comfortable again,” Mr McConnon said.
“I’m more than happy to help other jurisdictions – it was only last year that we had other fire agencies coming here to Tasmania to help us, so now it’s our turn to help out others.”
TFS chief officer Chris Arnol said additional personnel were on standby in case further assistance was needed.
“They will need the support and relief, and we’ll be able to provide that,” Mr Arnol said.
“This is an initial request, it’s fairly urgent, but once they get a good idea of what their assessments are, then they’ll call for people to do those recovery efforts.”
