Ange visits Innisfail

On Sunday, nearly 2 weeks after cyclone Larry hit North Queensland I flew up to Cairns with a few of my colleagues to help the Department of Communities with the relief effort. As we had a free afternoon I went to the Lagoon, which is a lovely Southbank-style area with a fantastic view of the mountains and the ocean.

Anyway, we were briefed (not very well!) on Sunday evening and on Monday morning we were assigned to different outreach teams travelling to Innisfail. The devastation we saw as we drove down intensified and was really amazing. In Cairns there are some big trees uprooted but in Innisfail, most big trees are uprooted! We passed all of the broken banana trees and massive cane farms which look pretty good but in actual fact can't be havested because they've been damaged at the base and therefore won't produce a decent crop.

In Innisfail heaps of the houses are tarped and the SES and army have done an amazing job of securing homes and cleaning up the debris. One of the things that has really blown me away (pardon the pun) is the devastation of the vegetation. Areas that were once rich rainforest still have the ferns and the vines but have lost the entire canopy. Mountains lined with bush have one side covered in leafless limbs and the other with normal trees because they were protected by the Mountain. It is clear to see which direction the winds were travelling!!!
We've been helping the relief effort by driving down to Innisfail each day and helping people to fill out forms that will entitle them to assistance from the Queensland Government. The people we can help the most are those who have damaged homes and contents but have no insurance. This is really difficult because even though we can grant thousands of dollars to some people it really is only a small drop in the ocean when their rooves have been blown off and they have lost all of their possessions and they have to somehow find a hundred thousand dollars to rebuild when they have no power and nowhere to live and are frightened of looters. Although the looting isn't like it would be elsewhere in the world there is obviously some and it is enough to keep people camping in sheds and on verandahs.

I've fallen in love with the scenery up here in north Queensland, even though much of it isn't what it used to be. I'm particularly in love with a little place called Flying Fish Point which is the Eastern point of Innisfail, has incredible scenery and an amazing fish and chip shop we were taken to by a local indigenous officer from the Department of Communities. Awesome! I've never had fresh fish like that... should have taken a picture it was so great. But trust me - if you're ever up this way it's worth the 5 minute drive out to the coast!

Having a fairly nice time - the place we're staying at is ok, but is a backpackers and is definitely not as nice as the 5 star resort the people from Communities have! Not that it matters... it's definitely not why we came here!

I'm hoping that over the next few days things get a bit more efficient and that word of mouth gets more people coming into our centre to apply for the grants. It's great to be up here because our presence really does make a difference and we get some lovely feedback from the people in the community that we help.