Queensland communities consider relocating after Cyclone Jasper
It has been two months since flooding after tropical cyclone Jasper caused destruction to properties in far north Queensland. Repairs continue, but people are still displaced and some are questioning whether their communities should be rebuilt in the same places.
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00:00 Sheets and a glow stick. A reminder of the terrifying night Alec Dunn's parents spent
00:07 clinging to a tree as floodwaters ripped through their home and the surrounding landscape.
00:12 "My parents were up there, they had to climb right out these branches at one point, the
00:18 water was up above the fork."
00:20 After flooding in far north Queensland from the aftermath of tropical cyclone Jasper,
00:25 communities on the banks of the Bloomfield River are questioning whether they should
00:29 rebuild and return.
00:30 "A lot of them don't want to go back into those houses that were flooded and they had
00:33 to clamber onto the roofs and you know, this is a part of climate change, this is potentially
00:40 just going to happen again and again."
00:41 People from nearby Wujal Wujal are still displaced.
00:44 "Wujal is always their home, but now it's not their home. We're here in Cooktown."
00:55 Living in government provided temporary accommodation.
00:58 Nearly two months after the initial disaster, local authorities say that efforts have shifted
01:03 from the immediate clean-up to post-flood recovery.
01:07 But with repairs to necessities like housing, potable water and sewerage still underway,
01:12 there's a long road ahead.
01:14 The Queensland Government says it's working to ensure Wujal Wujal residents can return
01:19 to their homes as soon as possible, and the location of future social housing and public
01:23 assets will be assessed.
01:25 "Our access roads are open at the moment, but with a lot more rain we could easily be
01:32 cut off again."
01:33 "Finding the right places to rebuild for people, the whole valley, not even Wujal, the whole
01:41 valley, I don't think it's a good idea to build in somewhere where it's just flooded."
01:46 Locals hoping for a more secure future.
01:49 [BLANK_AUDIO]