Food running low in cyclone-hit region

(AAP) - Frustrated residents of cyclone-ravaged Airlie Beach, on the fringe of the Great Barrier Reef, say surviving the storm may have been the "easy part".

Tourists have scavenged in bins for food, and communities are at risk of running out
of water after 200km/h winds from the category three cyclone, which crossed the
north Queensland coast on Sunday morning, cut power to homes, businesses and
utilities.
About 26,000 residents and businesses in Mackay and surrounds were without power on
Monday afternoon, but Ergon Energy was working to restore electricity to most places
by Monday night.
Authorities say Mackay and Airlie Beach are at risk of running out of water and
urged residents who had power to not waste water.
Hotels at Airlie Beach are telling visitors to leave or brace for an uncomfortable
stay as supplies run low.
"If we don't get the power back soon, we will look back at the cyclone as the easy
part," Airlie Beach Hotel general manager Mark Bell told AAP.
Guests are being advised that there will be no running water or phone connections in
Airlie Beach for some time.
The local Lions club put on a sausage sizzle after hearing of backpackers desperate
to find food.
"We've had reports of people sifting through rubbish bins for food, so we've asked
the Lions Club to come in and help out," Whitsunday mayor Mike Brunker said.
With only one service station in town vehicles were backed up for hundreds of metres
waiting for fuel for up to one hour.
The Mackay Regional Council says people with water were taking advantage of the dry
weather to hose down paths and do loads of washing, sparking fears water supplies
would run out.
"If that type of water use was kept up, we'd run the risk of running out of water,"
councillor Deirdre Comerford told AAP.
Premier Anna Bligh, who on Monday extended her southern Queensland flood appeal to
raise money for the state's cyclone-hit north, is also worried about water.
"Right now that water supply is sufficient because they are using back-up generator
power, but that is not sustainable in the long term," she said.
Ms Bligh said the damage bill from Ului will put further pressure on the state
budget following hundreds of millions of dollars worth of damage caused by the
flooding earlier in the month in southwest Queensland.
She said it was unknown how the fisheries, coal and tourism industries would fare in
the wake of the cyclone.
And it would be up to five days until sugar cane losses were known.
Centrelink social workers have been allocated to cyclone-affected areas.
Human Services Minister Chris Bowen said the federal government had paid out $3.5
million to date in disaster relief following the floods.
On Monday afternoon ex-tropical cyclone Ului was east of Cloncurry and moving west,
bringing localised heavy rain and thunderstorms.
The federal government will match the state government's $500,000 contribution to
the disaster relief fund.