Redland City Mayor and Local Disaster Management Group Chair Karen Williams has congratulated emergency services and Council staff for the first-class response to Tropical Cyclone Marcia.

Mayor Karen Williams said that while Redland City was spared the brunt of the weather, it was an amazing effort to ensure the City was prepared for the worst.

“With all natural emergencies, we hope for the best but prepare for the worst and our Council staff and other emergency agencies did an excellent job,” Cr Williams said.

“SES and Council had response teams on North Stradbroke Island and the Southern Moreton Bay Island from Thursday to Saturday to ensure we were prepared.”

Key figures from the event:

– There were more than 20 roads either closed due to flooding or with water over the road.

– There were almost 200 Council and SES officers out in the field, including forward commands set up on North Stradbroke Island and the Southern Moreton Bay Islands.

– Approximately 30 Council staff worked in the Local Disaster Coordination Centre alongside staff from other emergency agencies.

– Over the whole event, SES received more than 300 formal requests for assistance ranging from leaking roofs, water damage, sandbagging of homes and businesses, tree removal, traffic management at flooding roads and public information activities

– In excess of 4000 sandbags were filled by Council officers, SES volunteers, residents and community groups who volunteered their time to assist

Cr Williams said the response and cooperation from the community was integral to the successful response.

“I would like to congratulate the community for their support during the event. We had people sharing information and offering assistance to others throughout, which shows that when the chips are down the strength of our community truly shines, all residents should be proud of themselves,” she said.

“Many residents stayed up-to-date through Council’s social media pages, and I urge all residents to follow Council on Facebook (Facebook.com/RedlandCouncil) and Twitter (Twitter.com/RedlandCouncil) to get live updates during potential emergencies.

“They are important public safety tools, with our Facebook updates having 280,000 views and our Tweets and retweets reaching 1.3 million throughout the recent weather event – both well beyond our own boundaries.

Be aware of fallen trees and flooded waterways

Cr Williams said while the rain had stopped for the moment there were still dangers associated with ex-tropical cyclone Marcia that the community needed to be mindful of.

“Creeks and waterways are still flooded and this is likely to be the case for a few days to come as run-off continues to make its way into our creek system,” she said.

“This means residents need to stay clear of waterways and remember the golden rule, ‘if it’s flooded forget it’.

“Heavy rain and strong winds will have put some trees at risk of falling so people need to be careful and not take any chances.”

Sandbag disposal

Used sandbags that have not come into contact with oil or other contaminants can be disposed of by scattering the sand on lawns and gardens as topsoil and the bags disposed of in general waste bins.

Sandbags that have come into contact with floodwaters can be disposed of at one of Council’s transfer stations.

Residents are asked not to empty or place full sandbags in their general waste bin.