Areas of Queensland affected by “unprecedented” storms now face the prospect of days without electricity amid extreme heat.
Storms and flash flooding across south-east Queensland have claimed the lives of seven people since Christmas but households have now been warned to prepare for a heatwave.
The federal disaster and emergency management minister, Murray Watt, said on Thursday residents should look out for neighbours who were elderly or living with disability.
“If you have fans or air conditioning available and have got the power on, today is the day to use it,” Watt said.
“If you don’t have that, today is the day to think about using those public libraries, public pools, other spaces to stay safe.”
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More than 120,000 homes and businesses lost power during the extreme rain, lightning and wind.
The Queensland energy minister, Mick de Brenni, said 63% of customers without power since Monday and Tuesday’s “unprecedented” storms now had their services restored.
“By the evening of 30 December we aim to have 80% of households and businesses across the affected region have power resupplied,” he said. “By New Year’s Eve we aim to have 90% resupplied.”
More than 43,000 people were still without power on Thursday afternoon.
The health minister, Shannon Fentiman, said this was “incredibly concerning”, with high temperatures expected over the coming days.
“Use a cold towel or if there is power on at the local library or at a shopping centre, go there and just keep your temperature down if you’re starting to experience some signs and symptoms of heat stress,” she said.
Following the Christmas Day storms, 400 houses on the Gold Coast have sustained some damage. Of those, 37 homes have significant or severe damage.
The Gold Coast mayor, Tom Tate, thanked volunteers who had come from across Queensland and northern NSW to assist with recovery after hundreds of homes were damaged.
“We are fortunate to have two days’ reprieve from the strong winds and severe storm,” he said. “It’s time to get ready.”
The council said public pools on the Gold Coast would be open and made free on Thursday and Friday during the extreme heat.
Residents were asked not to swim in creeks, rivers or in the broadwater until the water has been tested.
The Queensland ambulance service said there has been an increase in calls for help over the past few days, partially because of the storms and the heat.
About 3,600 calls a day have been received compared with the usual 3,100 daily calls, the director, Lisa Dibley, said.
“Some of that’s attributed to the warm weather; also some quite difficult cases that require high ambulance consumption with some of the weather events,” she said.
The premier, Steven Miles, said the government has activated disaster assistance for parts of the Gold Coast, Logan and the Scenic Rim following the devastating storms.
The assistance package includes emergency hardship grants of $180 for individuals and up to $900 for families.
Uninsured low- to middle-income residents will be eligible for grants of up to $1,765 for individuals and $5,300 for couples or families to replace damaged household contents.
Watt said those households could also apply for assistance of up to $5,000 for the costs of repairing connections to electricity, water and gas.