‘Hitting us hard’: Lismore braces for brunt of TC Alfred
While floods are a routine part of life in NSW’s Northern Rivers, locals are worried about people’s lives and the danger posed by the “worst weather event in 45 years”.
NSW
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Everyone in Lismore knows the current height of the Wilsons River that runs through the town. They have to, their lives depend on it.
Floods are a routine part of life in the Northern Rivers and the community has just gotten back on its feet after the devastation of 2022 when flood levels hit 14.4m.
But this year it’s not rain but wind which poses the greatest danger.
Tropical Cyclone Alfred, a category two mass of air, is due to hit Brisbane on Saturday and could unleash chaos and devastation across more than 500km of coastline.
Nearly 30,000 residents across north NSW and Queensland were warned to evacuate on Friday as 120km/h winds lashed Moreton Island and Byron Bay overnight.
On Thursday Lismore’s CBD was deserted aside from the occasional emergency service worker, a ghost town waiting for the storm to hit.
Across town, shops were shut and sandbagged, brown water flowed from storm drains.
Locals stocking up on supplies before Cyclone Alfred hits stripped supermarket shelves bare.
At Woolworths in Goonellabah, shelves are empty of bread, long-life milk, bananas, onions, chips and cat litter. Toilet paper is still available.
Fallen tree branches and leaves lined the roads into town as the wind shook palm fronds.
Rose Hand, 75, and Francis Hand, 71, have lived on Keen St in Lismore since 1999 and are used to floods.
At the back of their weatherboard cottage is the Wilsons River.
Ms Hand said she wasn’t worried for herself, her floor is 17.5m high, but said she feared strong winds could blow the roof of her home.
“Everyone in Lismore knows the flood heights and where your floor sits,” said Ms Hand.
“We sit here watching our town go down to Ballina and that’s scary because that’s our town. And that’s all the people that love the place [and] they’re all losing a lot of their stuff and we’re worried about people losing their lives.”
Ms Hand said if the roof blew off her home she’d have to evacuate. The grandmother said the 2022 floods were a disaster and rising insurance costs had hampered recovery efforts.
“It wasn’t really a flood, it was epic,” she said.
“Things like this, cyclones, are a different thing. It’s rising quickly and with the wind it could be quite disastrous fora lot of people. Other than the wind taking our roof I think we’ll be safe.”
About 75km north of Lismore, the coastal town of Brunswick Heads prepared for the worst of Cyclone Alfred.
On Friday, locals gathered at the breakwall staring at what is left of their beach.
There is barely any sand left - already, it had been swallowed by the sea.
John Loughran has lived in Brunswick Heads for 45 years. The keen fisherman said this was the worst weather he’d seen.
“Much stronger this time… this is the worst weather event in 45 years,” he said.
Floodwaters licked his door in 2022, but he escaped unharmed. He doesn’t know if the same will happen this time.
“It’s never flooded in over 100 years. But there’s a good chance it could happen again and possibly worse depending on the size of the surge tonight,” Mr Loughran said.
“It’s a matter of whether I am asleep when the flood comes. Last time everyone was asleep and they woke up in their beds flooded,” he said.
“In the 1974 cyclone which devastated this area I was on the coast in the Nambucca River and almost got washed away. It was life threatening. The same could happen this time here. I was trying to clear cattle off the flats and it was a raging torrent, not just a drain. I nearly got taken into the river. It looked like just a trickle and it nearly took my life,” he said.
“Don’t go near flood waters. You just don’t know what’s going on in there.”
19-year-old Sanji Clarkson and her friend Grace Mulholland watched the floods devastate their community in 2022.
Ms Clarkson said she feels better prepared this time round “we have been watching the news and keeping in contact with friends. I have been watching videos of what to do when cyclones come - tape the windows!”.
“I think we will be fine. We have a good community,” she said.
“It’s just the wind,” Ms Clarkson said.
It’s this wind that has been making everyone nervous, including Toni Storer, who has lived in the town for 62 years.
Her home was surrounded by flood waters in 2022 and she watched as a council worker almost lost his life.
“To see him nearly washed away into the drain… it was not good to see someone nearly lose their life,” said Ms Storer.
“I’ve lived through large sea surges, cyclones, small tornadoes. Quite a variety of disasters. Our house is on stumps so it is off the ground but the drains were blocked due to a surfboard going into the drain.
“There will be houses washed away because of this,” she warns.
“A small town like this gets together and helps one another. Neighbours help neighbours. It’s a real community here.”
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