Northern Rivers region prepares for Cyclone Alfred
Northern Rivers residents are waiting for Cyclone Alfred to make landfall, preparing for “history to repeat itself”. Here’s the reason the region is so hard hit by diseasters.
NSW
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Flood-weary Northern Rivers residents are bracing for “history to repeat itself” as a tropical cyclone threatens to inundate recovering homes and businesses, almost three years to the day since floods devastated the region.
Families spent Wednesday scrambling to sandbag their properties and removal trucks took over the streets to race belongings to higher ground as towns frantically prepared for Cyclone Alfred, knowing all-too-well how quickly a community can go underwater.
Communities across the Northern Rivers turned into ghost towns, heeding advice to relocate to one of 14 evacuation centres opened on Wednesday afternoon “before it’s too late”.
At South Golden Beach near Brunswick Heads, Will Glasson and his son Ted were busy filling up sandbags ahead of the onslaught.
Mr Glasson said people were stressed their homes would be inundated between storm surges, daily rainfall predictions of up to 300mm, and flash flooding.
“It’s just about getting sorted in case it comes into the house this time – there is a fair bit of worry in the community about that,” Mr Glasson said.
“We’re using sandbags to hopefully stop the water from coming through the front door.”
“No one really knows what it’s going to look like, the best thing we can all do is prepare, the councils and the SES have done a great job in helping us all.”
Lismore Toy World owner Carmel Horner said she had packed up the store in preparation for the flood.
“We are feeling anxious because we really do not know what to expect,” she said.
“This is the first time I have packed up for a flood with blue skies overhead.”
The scenes are a painful reminder for communities who have only just started to get back on their feet after floods decimated the region in March 2022, costing five people their lives and leaving hundreds homeless.
Fellow Lismore local Gray Wilson’s two-storey home went underwater during the flood and he has been on a disability pension ever since. Mr Wilson has now rented a home above the flood plain, but the fear remains.
“I lost everything in the last flood and have been totally anxious about this time,” he said. “It’s taken so long to work out what (the cyclone) is doing so there is plenty of time to get anxious.”
Police Rescue senior constable Adam Davis returned to Lismore this week to help three years after he rescued a 93-year-old woman from her home, where she was found floating on a mattress with only 20cm between the flood waters and her ceiling.
Mr Davis said “all the memories were coming back”.
“Residents have been happy to see us return with our boats and resources but they are nervous and apprehensive about what’s to come, they don’t know mother nature will throw them at them this time.
“It feels as if history is repeating itself.”
Lismore City Council Mayor Steve Krieg said the town was prone to flooding as the Wilsons River and Leycester Creek catchments both meet in the town, which also lies on swampland.
In 2022, high rainfall across the summer filled the waterways and when 500mm fell in a single day, both catchments released at the same time, submerging the town.
Although the conditions are different this time, Mr Krieg warned a tropical cyclone will hit Lismore with much more than just rain, as the Bureau of Meteorology predicts 130km/h gusts could bring down trees, power lines, and old homes.
“We have 4000 residents on flood plains in harm’s way, but we also have 45,000 residents in the Lismore area and we are concerned about all of them,” Mr Krieg said.
“Our first goal is not to lose a life, everything else is a bonus.
“Now we will just sit and wait.”
Everything you need to know about Tropical Cyclone Alfred
Northern NSW is already feeling the effects of Tropical Cyclone Alfred which is expected to hit on Friday. Here is the latest information.
‘Stay indoors’: 50,000sq km region on high alert
The entire Northern Rivers region of NSW has been urged to stay inside, and thousands have been told to prepare to evacuate as Cyclone Alfred slowly makes its way to the east coast.