Tropical Cyclone Alfred: Lismore fears as major flood warnings in place
The flood-battered Lismore region is in a holding pattern and major flood warnings are in place, with fears there will be 2022 deja vu all over again as Cyclone Alfred approaches.
NSW
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The flood-smashed Lismore region is in a holding pattern as it awaits a potential Groundhog Day from hell – more flooding as a result of encroaching Tropical Cyclone Alfred.
It’s a grim case of deja vu for Lismore, who three years on, are still reeling from the horrors of 2022 when the entire region was quite literally buried under water.
On Thursday, major flood warnings have been issued for Lismore, with water levels along a swollen Wilsons River already at 1.23m – and the cyclone isn’t even here yet.
It was expected to exceed minor flood level by Thursday evening and may reach major flood levels on Friday.
NSW Premier Chris Minns said on Thursday Cyclone Alfred was behaving like an “unwanted house guest”.
“There’s 2000 SES volunteers across the Northern Rivers; they’ve come from across NSW, left their families and communities to keep the public safe up here,” Mr Minns said.
“They’re well deployed, they’re ably assisted by NSW Police, Fire and Rescue NSW. Got a big job ahead of them in the next 72 hours but we owe them a huge debt of gratitude.
“There are 24 areas or communities that are subject at the moment to a ‘prepare to evacuate’ order. That’s very serious. We want to make sure that these communities are aware that they’re currently within the potential path of the storm.
“We know that communities in the Northern Rivers are resilient people but we need them to understand that the threat isn’t over and as a result they need to make sure that they’re doing everything they can to prepare.
“Alfred at the moment is behaving like a completely unwanted house guest...
“It’s told us it’s going to be late but linger even longer. And unfortunately that means the window for destruction in our community - heavy rains, winds, powerful surf - is longer than we would have otherwise liked.
“As a result of that we’re going to need the local community ... we’re going to be leaning on the local community ... this resilient, tough, defiant community in the Northern Rivers to do their bit.
“It’s very important that you prepare your house - particularly for loose items in the yard, on the roof - to make sure that it’s not effectively a weapon that can fly as a result of high winds.
“Keep your documents together, download the Hazards Near Me app, never ever drive through floodwaters - [you’ll] put yourself in danger, and an SES volunteer.
“Lastly and perhaps most importantly, listen to emergency service broadcasts. Some of these prepare to evacuate orders move to an evacuation order. It’s incredibly important that we minimise the amount of people that need to be rescued in the event of a massive natural disaster.”
MAYOR’S HEARTBREAK
Lismore Mayor Steve Krieg says thousands are still struggling with home buybacks, a prolonged process he has openly called inefficient and one which “reignites trauma” for locals.
It was expected to exceed minor flood level by Thursday evening and may reach major flood level on Friday.
“[It’s sad] for our community to have to deal with this again,” he said.
“It’s heartbreaking to be honest but one thing that I can say that I am extremely proud of is to see early preparation and people who are so much better off right now than what we were in 2022. And that is heartening.
“I want to stress that this is just the very start of what we’re about to face ... It’s critical that we heed the warnings. Don’t put others in danger because you want to become an environmental tourist or take some of these selfies and putting yourself in harm’s way.
“Heed the warnings, stay at home, protect your loved ones and please stay safe. That’s the most important thing. We need to get through this weather event together so that everyone is safe and well so we can assess things.
“Let me just say that we are at the very start of this weather event. It is going to become quite treacherous over the next two or three days so please stay safe and listen to the warnings.”
At a press conference in Lismore, NSW SES Acting Chief Superintendent Stuart Fisher said despite Alfred slowing down to a crawl, Thursday would be “the last day to prepare”.
“As the Bureau of Meteorology has indicated this morning, the cyclone has slowed and will approach the land sometime Saturday morning,” he said.
“This has allowed us an extra day for members of the public to prepare; today will be their last day to prepare their properties should they wish to stay.
“If they don’t feel safe then they should think about moving out and tomorrow will be the day for that decision.
“After that ... when the storm hits, particularly those high winds will bring down trees and powerlines. It may stop the egress of them coming or getting out and for us to actually get in to assist them.
“I cannot stress enough that this is a significant weather event, it is not like 2022 where we had a single event. We’ve had beach erosion which is occurring now, or have the very strong to dangerous and destructive winds over the next 24 to 48 hours, followed by those torrential rains.
“Should that stall over land we are predicting anywhere between 300-400mm rain. If it stalls, we’ll see an increase in the rainfall of around 600-700mm rain which will cause again significant flooding on many of the river systems down the coast.
“We have currently issued over 300k sandbags and there are more to come.”
On Thursday, Mr Krieg said the flood-ravaged town was prone to flooding as the Wilsons River and Leycester Creek catchments both meet, 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 150km/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.”
NERVOUS WAIT
Newly elected Lismore Councillor Harper Dalton-Earls has spent the last few days talking to residents and business owners and found most people felt “unsettled” and “nervous”.
“The trauma and PTSD from 2022 has risen,” he said.
“The resounding feedback was people can’t afford to lose everything again so the community is much more prepared.”
While the community feels resilient there are still some questions about the buybacks and Lismore’s future flood proofing.
“We just have a patchwork of buybacks.
“Four houses in my old street are getting buybacks but no one else.
“We just had random buybacks all over the place and it should have been strategic.”
He said the lack of strategy meant that council could not raise the levy between North and South Lismore.
“It has stopped us looking at raising the levy which was one of our core recommendations in our flood management strategy.”
Mr Dalton-Earls had to appeal his own unsuccessful buyback and then could only afford to buy again in the flood zone.
“Thankfully in this house during the 2022 flood the water was about five cm below the floorboards.
“So for me that was still a much better position than where I was because the old house was on the ground and the drains hadn’t been maintained in over 50 years by council so every time we would get a decent amount of rain water it would go under the house and I was just sleeping on top of muddy water pretty much constantly.”
“I have hay fever and asthma and I was pretty much sick all the time”.
Originally published as Tropical Cyclone Alfred: Lismore fears as major flood warnings in place
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