Neighbours of Mick suffer devastating loss from ex-Tropical Cyclone Alfred and now confront a greater danger

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Mick Pignat has lived in a tent with his dog Red for over a year.

He’s been sleeping rough in a so-called ‘tent city’ on the Eagleby Wetlands in Beenleigh, a suburb of Logan just south of Brisbane.

Dozens of tents in the park were submerged and precious belongings were destroyed when ex-Tropical Cyclone Alfred caused nearby rivers to rise rapidly on Sunday night.

“It hit us pretty hard, the winds were the worst with the rain,” Pignat told SBS News.

He chose to stay and narrowly avoided losing everything, .

“We live homeless, we’re here and we’re trying to find somewhere to go. Somewhere to live,” he said.

It’s hard times at the moment. And then you lose what you have, it sucks, it really does

Pignat said the conditions were “horrendous” for four to five days, as Alfred battered the region with winds reaching 100 km/h and rainfall totals up to 400mm in some parts of south-east Queensland.

“We just sat there and tried to keep it all down, keep the tents down, keep our roofs on so we could stay out of the wet,” he said.

He said most people in the lowest-lying areas of the park eventually left to go to an evacuation shelter, but he stayed to protect his home.

“I wanted to stay here with my house and my dog. It got up pretty high, I thought I was going to be flooded by morning,” he said.

“I’ve had people coming and staying in [my tent] because they were rained out, their tents were blown away.”

The destruction and evacuations brought by Alfred

Local homelessness service YFS supports rough sleepers in the area.

It said, before the flooding, around 37 campsites with three to four people in each were living at the park. The number of sites left standing after the flood is 11.

Camila Aldred, client services manager at YFS said: “It’s just shocking that we still have people living in those circumstances.”

“When I actually saw [the flooded tents], I was sad and disappointed that we’d as a community, as a Logan community, and as Australia, the lucky country, had allowed it to happen,” she told SBS News.

A topless man looking at tents with his back turned.

Alfred was downgraded from a tropical cyclone but still caused severe damage.

YFS was working with emergency services and the local council to warn rough sleepers in the area and help them evacuate.

Christopher John, CEO of YFS said when Alfred was approaching “it was difficult to get the message across because it was a sunny day and people [were] just not quite understanding” that a severe weather event was on the way.

“Part of the challenge for people sleeping rough is that they … often have pets with them as well … those pets are their families,” he said.

Aldred said many were hesitant to leave.

“Some of them didn’t want to leave because they were worried about their neighbour or losing their items,” she said.

Pignat said some of his friends decided to leave at the last minute, while others evacuated quickly.

“They went out quick, soon as the water in that creek started coming up, they all started moving out, went up to shelters,” he said.

Another challenge was receiving live updates on the emergency.

“The SES [State Emergency Service] came through, gave us emergency packs with radios in them, unfortunately mine fell and found a bucket of water,” Pignat said.

Beenleigh and Eagleby were hit hard by flooding, days after ex-Tropical Cyclone Alfred crossed the coast.

The area is wedged between the Albert and Logan Rivers, both of which peaked above the major flood level on Sunday and Monday.

Like dozens of other suburbs in south-east Queensland, thousands faced no power, limited reception, road closures due to flooding, fallen trees and severe weather conditions for several days.

The state of homelessness in Logan

Many of those sleeping rough have jobs but could not afford rentals, Aldred said.

“If they’re on Centrelink payments and they lack a rental history it doesn’t make them an attractive tenant,” she said.

“We often have up to 40 people competing for the one property.”

A chart showing the rising number of homeless people in Logan.

Housing pressures in Logan have worsened, a trend that started during COVID-19 pandemic.

The number of rough sleepers has increased 277 per cent in five years to 358, according to the Logan Zero register, while median rents in the area have gone up from $350 to $550, John said.

“People are closer to homelessness than perhaps they realise. Some people are a one or two paychecks away,” Aldred said.

“We have people who are working, who are living in parks and in their cars in Logan.”

The health risks and further housing insecurity caused by flooding

Rough sleepers impacted by Alfred now face health risks associated with floodwaters and insecure housing.

Water authorities said infrastructure was struggling to prevent sewage leaking into flooded areas.

Queensland Health says: “Floodwater is often contaminated by human waste … agricultural or industrial wastes and chemicals.”

It warns of an increased risk of infection from exposure to contaminated water or soil, citing potential health issues such as diarrhea, vomiting, wound infections, dermatitis, conjunctivitis, and serious diseases like leptospirosis.

“We are worried about people’s health and the spread of infection and their access to clean water,” Aldred said.

Logan City Council mayor Jon Raven said homelessness in the area has increased since COVID-19 and is posing a “very complex challenge” for the local council and state government.

He told SBS News the community feels both compassion and concern for rough sleepers but many refuse offers for temporary housing for a range of reasons.

These include the support this community gives each other, that homeless people face isolation when moved out into temporary housing, and can be moved to different locations away from support networks.

“Those are the hard choices that people make that no-one is seeing and that’s where I would love to see government engage earlier and help.

“It’s really complicated and challenging. My heart goes out to the people who are legitimately trying to find housing and just can’t, and they’re doing everything they can, but they just can’t find it.”