Ipswich City Council and state agencies continue to deliver and monitor recovery activities after the devastating Halloween hailstorm in October 2020, across Ipswich.
The Queensland Reconstruction Authority (QRA) will be conducting follow-up damage assessments on about 1795 properties from 1 to 5 February 2021 in areas impacted by the severe storm.
Those properties that were identified as damaged by the damage assessment immediately after the event, will be revisited in this assessment.
Ipswich Mayor Teresa Harding said damage assessments captures vital information for organisations and agencies supporting the recovery.
“Council wants to make sure residents that are still displaced from their homes or are still waiting for their homes to be repaired are receiving the assistance they need,” Mayor Harding said.
“These assessments will give us a better picture of the requirements and priorities of the community at this point in time and allow the recovery process to continue where it is needed most.”
In early November, Queensland Fire and Emergency Services (QFES) completed damage assessments on public infrastructure and individual homes.
Comprehensive information about the extent of damage was collected from approximately 1558 properties in Ipswich and flagged for QRA follow up.
Officers collected information related to the damage to individual properties including accessibility to water and electricity, structural damage, insurance matters and resident’s accessibility to financial support.
If residents are not home or available, a calling card with contact details will be left for people to seek further information from QRA.
QRA staff will be supported by the Department of Communities who can provide on the spot support to residents in these most impacted areas.
All QRA staff have completed mandatory COVID-19 training that provides clear direction to keep both employees and members of the community safe.
Further information about Damage Assessment and Reconstruction Monitoring can be found on the QRA website.
During the storm aftermath there were more than 2,100 calls for SES assistance in Ipswich with teams from all over Queensland, and as far away as South Australia, sending volunteers.
Energex also reported over 3,000 power outages during the storm and the QFES fire and rescue crew conducted almost 1,700 damage assessments in the Ipswich area.
Council established The Ipswich Hail Event community information page on Shape Your Ipswich to provide advice and assistance for the thousands of Ipswich residents affected by the storm. The page has received 1,258 views.
More than 2,000 people are estimated to have been provided with support at the YMCA Springfield Community Centre, which opened on Sunday, 1 November as a drop-in support centre.
What is DARMsys™
The Damage Assessment and Reconstruction Monitoring system (DARMsys™) is used to monitor Queensland’s rebuilding progress.
Following a natural disaster, damage data is collected in real time by the Queensland Reconstruction Authority (QRA) and Queensland Fire and Emergency Services (QFES).
The data is collected by officers undertaking damage assessments in the community using a wireless hand held monitoring device to provide map-based damage data.
Officers conduct street-by-street and house-by-house inspections through flood, storm, bushfire and cyclone-affected communities to identify the level of damage and where the greatest needs exist.
This helps local and state government agencies provide assistance to the most vulnerable in our communities.
Maybe if more local businesses were used by the insurance companies and not big companies, and companies from interstate a lot of these places would be fixed by now