Fewer than 2,000 volunteers who turned up to help after Brisbane's floods were sent out to work, despite more than 16,000 registering for a coordinated clean-up day on March 5.
A question on notice from Labor councillors at Tuesday's Brisbane City Council chamber meeting asked how many volunteers had registered and been deployed in the wake of the devastating floods.
They were told that 16,747 people registered with Volunteering Queensland "for Mud Army 2.0".
"Of these, an estimated 1,795 were deployed through our marshalling stations on Saturday, March 5."
The council came under criticism for concluding mud army volunteer clean-up efforts after a single day of work, informing volunteers that their efforts had broken the back of the massive task and they were no longer needed.
Lord Mayor Adrian Schrinner issued a media release on Friday thanking volunteers for their efforts.
"While our rough figure indicates about 1,800 people formally checked through the marshalling stations for shifts on Saturday March 5, joining the thousands of registered and unregistered volunteers already on the ground, the total number involved throughout the flood will run into the tens of thousands," Mr Schrinner said in the statement.
Mr Schrinner earlier said the council faced a safety and liability risk with volunteers working around large equipment and vehicles during the clean-up across all of Brisbane's 190 suburbs.
The council's own crews and Defence Force members have been tasked with cleaning up more than 3,000 flooded streets.
The council also contracted numerous private businesses to help.
'Poorly managed' program
Opposition leader Jared Cassidy said the decision to call off the volunteers after one day was "an absolute slap in the face for residents who were desperate for help".
Greens councillor Jonathan Sri said the mud army volunteer process had been "poorly managed" with volunteers losing two hours to processing and marshalling before they were bussed to flood-affected areas.
"Not only were volunteers deployed too late, but the scope of what they were allowed to help with was too narrow, considering that residents needed help with a wide range of different clean-up-related tasks," Mr Sri said.
Volunteers were only permitted to help residents move damaged belongings out of their homes, and were offered a free tetanus shot after the clean-up activities.
Outside of the Brisbane City Council program, residents continued their volunteering efforts throughout the city.
Independent councillor Nicole Johnston said the mud army volunteer response was in reality "an organic community response by friends, neighbours and family".
