On 23 and 24 December, 2023, a terrifying hailstorm tore through Gatton properties leaving many with busted roofs and unlivable homes.
Shortly after, Gold Coast, Logan and Scenic Rim residents experienced similar hardships from another weather event.
Unlike the Lockyer Valley, residents of those council areas were eligible for $1,000 payments per eligible adult and $400 per eligible child through the Australian Government Disaster Recovery Payment (AGDRP).
Gatton resident June Whitehouse believes she and many other residents should have been eligible for similar support.
“We were bombarded with a hail storm, with hail that was not only the size of a cricket ball or bigger, but each ball had jagged pieces of sharp ice sticking out,” Mrs Whitehouse said.
“As my husband and I sat having a coffee in our lounge room, the water suddenly started pouring through our ceiling fan.
“As the minutes went by we watched our lounge ceiling change colour… water poured down inside the cavities of some of our walls and out through the skirting boards at the bottom.”
The Whitehouses had nine driers installed which were taken away after four days to service Gold Coast, Scenic Rim and Tamborine properties.
“When I found out that the three areas… had been declared disaster areas and those people impacted entitled to $1000 per adult, per household, I searched to see how we could apply and discovered that the Lockyer Valley were not included,” Mrs Whitehouse said.
The Gatton hail event was considered a separate event to the Southern Queensland severe storm and rainfall event which impacted Gold Coast, Logan and Scenic Rim council areas.
Member for Lockyer Jim McDonald said he made representation for assistance on the day of the event.
“In my experience the disaster management arrangements and triggers are designed for larger events and do not cater for more localised damage, even though the value of damage can be greater,” he said.
Lockyer Valley Regional Council Mayor Tanya Milligan said the Federal and State governments determine eligibility for disaster assistance based on a range of predetermined criteria.
“There is no doubt everyone impacted by weather events could benefit from financial assistance,” Cr Milligan said.
“However, government assistance is intended for extraordinary events with an expectation that residents and businesses have appropriate insurance.”
Mrs Whitehouse said she had suffered great stress since the event.
“Our health has suffered due to the mould in our house, my husband suffers with chest problems, and even my breathing has been affected,” Mrs Whitehouse said.
“This payment that I believe we should be entitled to would go a long way to help us live more comfortably, until the major works are done.”
Fellow Gatton resident Jeanette Countee and her family were away in Newcastle during the storm.
“We came home on the 29th of December, opened the door and it just stunk,” Ms Countee said.
“Everything was wet from the storms that happened after that, all the tiles were broken and all the water’s come in.”
Ms Countee’s daughter, Kaylee, had the worst of it.
“It put her ceiling on the bed,” she said.
Ms Countee and her family have been in temporary accommodation for six months since.
Thankfully accommodation was covered by insurance, but there were many additional costs incurred by the family including take away meals, fuel, and for the electricity which powered several large heater fans used to dry the house.
“We’ve had to pack up the whole house, so for things like bubble wrap that’s like $25 a roll, and I don’t know how many we’ve been through,” Ms Countee said.
She said the $1,000 payment would have made a huge difference.
“We were quite shocked as we drove into Gatton when we came back, it was like ‘oh my goodness, look at all the tarps on the roofs’,” Ms Countee said.
“Still today there are tarps over roofs, you can see there was a lot of damage.”
