Woman feared missing in floodwaters in Ipswich as southeast Queensland starts recovery from Cyclone Alfred

A woman is feared missing in floodwaters in Ipswich, west of Brisbane.Queensland Police said a blonde, caucasian woman wearing a black top, denim pants and black shoes was seen entering floodwater near the One Mile Bridge in West Ipswich about 1.55pm on Tuesday.Police are now conducting inquires in the surrounding area near the Bremer River to substantiate this report.Police appeal to the woman, or anyone who may have information regarding her movements in the area this afternoon, to contact police. The Bremer river has been flooding following days of heavy rains from now ex-Tropical Cyclone Alfred which crossed onto the mainland late on Friday night. Gold Coast vows to be ready for EasterThe Gold Coast will be open and ready for business by Easter, the tourist destination’s mayor has vowed, as emergency providers race to get more than 100,000 homes still without power back online. A massive clean-up effort across South East Queensland has begun as the weather conditions from ex-Tropical Cyclone Alfred begin to ease. The system left entire regions swamped with floodwaters, thrashed homes with heavy winds and knocked down power lines over the week of chaos as it crossed the east coast of Australia. The Gold Coast copped the brunt of Alfred’s destruction over the weekend after hundreds of millimetres of rain and wind gusts of more than 100km/h swept through.Iconic beaches washed away by erosion could take years to recover. In a media conference on Tuesday, Gold Coast Mayor Tom Tate said the damage would be “limited” if the city could recover by April ahead of the region’s bumper tourism season. A Gold Coast woman has yelled at Tom Tate after he was absent during the city's most devastating storm in more than 50 years. Credit: Andrew Potts “It’s about putting the brand and the welcoming mat and paint(ing) the picture of the clear blue skies back,” he said. Mr Tate said he “absolutely” believed the city could be back up and running by Easter. He pointed to the recovery efforts from Tropical Cyclone Oswald in 2013 when the “majority” of services were restored within three weeks of the system’s crossing. “We have better equipment, better preparedness,” Mr Tate said. He continued by saying beaches between Broadbeach and Coolangatta had held up “really well” from the council’s design work and an artificial reef off Palm Beach had protected the area. “Previously it would be devastated,” Mr Tate said. Horror as flood ravages entire city Aerial footage has captured the horrific extent of flash flooding in the regional Queensland city of Hervey Bay after thousands were suddenly inundated with devastating floodwaters. Police first made an emergency declaration under the Public Safety Preservation Act (PSPA) for the Fraser Coast city on Sunday after more than 300mm of rain fell in just six hours. Emergency services received multiple calls related to motorists becoming stuck and floodwater impacting homes. The PSPA declaration was revoked on Monday when the rain eased. Drone footage captured by Surveyors at Work provides a bird’s-eye view of the extent of the flooding – revealing parks, roads and streets swamped with water. On Sunday, residents were urged to conserve water due to the drinking water pump station in Urraween being damaged from the deluge. ”Water treatment plants have not been impacted, and council continues to actively monitor and manage water quality across the network,” the Fraser Coast Regional Council (FCRC) said in a Facebook post. FCRC water and waste services director Mark Vanner on Monday said damage assessments had been undertaken at the site. ”We have been able to confirm there has been damage to several pumps, motors and the switchboard,” he said. Mr Vanner said changes had been made to the network to maintain supply through to critical reservoirs. Queensland Premier David Crisafulli said he was “determined to make sure there is zero daylight between response and recovery” as the clean-up begins in the wake of ex-tropical cyclone Alfred. On Tuesday afternoon, Mr Crisafulli fronted the media to share an update on the devastating damage caused by flash flooding. “The rainfall is easing, the rivers are receding and the threat of heavy rainfall is disappearing,” he said. “Emergency alerts have been cancelled, and with that comes a large sense of relief for some people.” Overnight, rain started to ease across the state, with the highest rainfall totals in Gympie with 146mm and Gatton, which recorded 118mm in 24 hours. Across the southeast, residents are beginning to clean out inundated houses of debris – leaving piles for councils’ kerbside collection. In Wilston, Jacquie Tapsall said her cafe Our Space suffered severe damage after the heavy rain brought flash flooding through parts of Brisbane. Pictures captured by NewsWire show residents hosing down their belongings damaged by the floodwaters. Brisbane City Council has organised free green waste disposal at four of its resource recovery centres in Chandler, Ferny Grove, Nudgee and Willawong. Two temporary green waste drop-off sites have been set up at the Mt Coot-tha carpark in Sir Samual Griffith Dr and White Hills Reserve, just off Boundary Rd in Camp Hill. The Bureau of Meteorology confirmed the threat of severe and heavy rainfall had eased; however, flood warnings remain in place. “Despite the rain easing, river levels are expected to remain high for several days,” meteorologist Helen Reid said. Major flood warnings are in place for the Logan and Bremer rivers and Warrill Creek. A moderate warning is in place for the Stanley and Albert rivers and Lockyer Creek. Minor flood warnings have been issued for the Brisbane River downstream of Wivenhoe Dam and the Maroochy, Noosa Upper Condamine and Mary rivers. Power outages smash state More than 120,000 customers remain without power on Tuesday morning, 45,000 of those are on the Gold Coast. An Energex spokesman told NewsWire it was the largest power outage caused by a natural disaster in Queensland’s history. As of Monday morning, 54 per cent of homes and businesses had their power restored, with plans to have the remaining customers’ power back up and running by the weekend. Energex confirmed 75 per cent of customers currently affected would have their electricity restored by Wednesday evening and 95 per cent by Friday night. “More than 450,000 individual homes and businesses have been impacted by this event, across a broad area from the Fraser Coast to the NSW border, since Thursday, 6 March,” the spokesman said. “This is the greatest number of power outages in Queensland history caused by a natural disaster.” Half of shuttered schools to reopen Tuesday The Crisafulli government confirmed 353 of the 661 state schools that were closed in South East Queensland as a result of the weather are set to open on Tuesday. “Crews have been working around the clock to assess damage at schools, so they can be safely reopened for students and teachers,” a statement read. A remaining 129 independent schools and 43 Catholic schools will remain closed on Tuesday. Dramatic floodwater rescue Police have urged residents to stay out of flood waters after a woman was rescued from a car trapped among the trees trying to escape the rapidly rising water. Authorities were called to Forrest Hill-Fernvale Rd about 8.30am Monday after reports a woman’s vehicle had become trapped against trees after the woman tried driving through floodwaters, only to be washed away. Darling Downs District disaster co-ordinator Doug McDonald commended the officers for their bravery and reminded the public to keep out of dangerous floodwaters. “You cannot drive into floodwaters with the mindset of, ‘it’ll be all right’,” he said. “We’ve seen time again where people think they can make it across, and then end up needing to be rescued. “Poor decisions can put your life; your family’s lives and emergency services’ lives at risk every time you decide to risk it. “What our officers have done this morning is very brave given the circumstances,” he added.