Cyclone Seroja: Frustrated Mid West locals forced to queue for hours for vital supply cards

Hundreds of locals impacted by ex-Tropical Cyclone Seroja continue to spend hours queuing in the sun to get pre-paid food and fuel vouchers, prompting calls for the system to be moved online. Power was restored to Geraldton on Thursday, more than three days after the Port City went dark after the Category Three cyclone made landfall on Sunday night. But with phone and internet access now available in the city, members of the community are questioning why the State Government has not made it possible to apply for the Department of Communities’ cash cards online. The widespread frustrations have prompted the Department of Communities to announce it will endeavour to make the process available online “as soon as possible”. Local Sherylyn Johnson insisted it “should be a better setup than this”, as hundreds of people waited for up to six hours to get a pre-paid card to use for food and fuel on Thursday. Another woman, Denay Williams, said she’d met a man forced to come back and line up in the queue again on Friday after missing out Thursday. “It's not good enough for the old people to have to do that,” she said. To her dismay, Hannah Marie Flavel said she waited in line for five hours on Thursday without being provided any water or shade. By 9am Friday a similarly-massive queue had developed outside Geraldton’s evacuation facility at the Queen Elizabeth II Centre. Geraldine Carlton, Department of Communities’ executive director of emergency management, said they were trying to make the process available online. “Due to high demand, Communities is working to streamline the application process by making it available online as soon as possible,” she said. “This will reduce wait times and need to queue for financial support, giving people more time to be with their families.” By Thursday, 320 requests for financial assistance had been processed, with a large number still incoming. Ms Carlton said in addition to that, “740 requests for food and beverages, toiletries, power charging for devices and general information requests” had also been received. “The Department of Communities (Communities) understands the devastating impacts that Cyclone Seroja has had on families and the broader community,” she said. “Financial assistance is available to those who have been significantly impacted by this event. “Our staff are prioritising the needs of the most vulnerable who require immediate support, particularly those who do not have access to power or telecommunications.” A volunteer at the converted community centre in Geraldton told The West Australian that the long wait times had forced them to create a new system in a bid to reduce the number of people lining up each day. Rather than forcing people to wait for food and fuel vouchers, those in need of assistance are now being offered appointment cards. The cards were initially handed out this morning, and each came with a time and date to return to the centre to pick-up their pre-paid vouchers. The volunteer admitted there had been a “mixture” of responses to the wait times, as well as the new appointment-card system, with many expressing their frustration over being forced to wait in line for hours just to be told to come back at a later time and date. The assistance from the Department of Communities is aimed at helping replace what people lost during the cyclone, with thousands of homes and businesses left without power for days. The cash cards can be used for food, essentials and fuel but not cigarettes or alcohol, with a $200 cap for individuals and $800 for families. While electricity started to be restored in Geraldton at 3pm on Wednesday — starting with the CBD and Bluff Point — 5,800 properties remain without power across the Mid West and Wheatbelt regions. Since Seroja smashed WA, power has been restored to more than 26,000 Western Power customers impacted by the one-in-50-year event. Residents unable to attend a welfare centre should contact the Disaster Response Hotline on 1800 032 965.