Thousands of Queenslanders have registered interest in the state government’s Resilient Homes Fund, after devastating floods affected about 9,000 properties at the beginning of this year.
According to a recent report into February’s south-east Queensland floods, two-thirds of the affected properties have either been repaired or have works underway.
However, there are still about 2,000 homes currently unlivable, five months after the severe weather event.
Under the $741 million Resilient Homes Fund, eligible home owners will receive funding to repair and retrofit their house, raise their house or in some cases have their property purchased under a voluntary buy-back scheme.
4,250 people have already registered their interest in the Resilient Homes Fund, with seventy per cent of those after a buy-back residing in Ipswich and Brisbane.
1,278 people chose to have their property lifted, while another 1,526 opted for the resilient rebuild.
The report by Deloitte estimated damages of $7.7 billion in social, economic, and financial losses.
Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk thanked State Recovery Co-ordinator Major-General Jake Ellwood for his report and the Recovery and Resilience Plan that will chart the way forward.
“In the six-days from February 22, 793mm of rain fell in Brisbane, this was the highest six-day rainfall ever and tragically we lost 13 lives, ” the Premier said.
“By any measure, this was one of the most devastating natural disasters in our history.
“It requires an equally historic effort to repair what was lost and do everything we can to ensure people are protected from suffering the same losses again.
“I am pleased to say that work is well underway.”
All works and acquisitions under the Resilient Homes Fund are to be completed by June 30, 2024.
