Federal Member for Rankin Jim Chalmers has praised the way Logan locals have responded to the severe weather and flood.
It comes as severe thunderstorms hit Logan this morning bringing with them large hailstones, heavy rainfall and damaging winds.
Mr Chalmers says the severe weather will likely cause extra stress for local residents.
“We expect that it will at the very least hamper the clean-up that had begun and that at worst could see some more flooding.
“It’s probably been pretty distressing for a lot of people that are going through a lot of pain in the last few days, not just in Logan, but also right throughout South East Queensland.”
Mr Chalmers says there are a lot of people doing it incredibly tough locally.
“We know from earlier natural disasters that usually when the floodwaters start to reside is a really difficult time for people, when they start thinking about clean-up and I think this extra storm activity is going to make that more difficult.
“I think the message is in this country we look out for each other, we look after each other.
“That’s true when the floodwaters are coming up, it’s true when they start going down, and people aren’t on their own.”
Mr Chalmers says the way Logan locals have responded has been remarkable and inspiring.
“Certainly at a community level, as always, the local SES volunteers, the emergency workers, first responders, all of the absolutely amazing community groups, charity organisations and even at the neighbourhood level with neighbours cooking for neighbours, helping each other clean up”
Mr Chalmers says the clean-up bill will be very costly.
“Costly in terms of lives lost most importantly, and damage done to communities, but there will be a cost to the economy, it will be expensive.
“The full cost will be revealed once we know the full extent of the damage.
“The other thing that people are worried about and people understand this, is that it was hard enough to get building materials and skilled workers even before these floods.
“The cost of building materials and the skills shortages that we’re seeing around the country will actually hamper the rebuild as we turn our minds to that.”
For local flood information, visit https://disaster.logan.qld.gov.au/
