Jeremy Pierce: Six things I learnt from Cyclone Alfred

He came, he saw, he didn’t exactly conquer, but Alfred proved enough of a menace to be never welcome back. WHAT I LEARNT

He came, he saw, he didn’t exactly conquer, but he proved enough of a menace to be never welcome back.

With ex-Tropical Cyclone Alfred now hopefully consigned to history, most of the lucky ones can get on with our lives - albeit with a few new lessons in the memory bank for next time.

This is what I learnt >>>

Preparation really is key

No matter how sick we all were of hearing about Alfred’s every turn, spin, lurch and backflip, what that excruciating build-up bought us was time.

So when the rains came and the power went out, most people had their eskies, torches and camping lamps ready to go.

That was in stark contrast to the tornado which ripped through the Gold Coast in 2023 where we received no warning whatsoever.

Internet can’t be our main form of communication

It doesn’t matter how state of the art or easy to navigate your disaster dashboard website is, it’s of no use whatsoever to the hundreds of thousand of Queenslanders who lost not only power, but phone and internet signal as well.

If I had a dollar for every expert or official on ABC radio who told listeners to “simply check with the disaster dashboard” I certainly wouldn’t need to apply for disaster relief funding. While we were being told to stay off the roads, it really wasn’t an option to head to the nearest Maccas or Starbucks to bum their wi-fi.

In our house, the radio was the only source of information for days.

Pictures: SEQ trashed, under water after Alfred chaos

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Disaster drivers are maniacs

With hundreds of traffic lights out, drivers literally placed their lives in their hands running the gauntlet of busy intersections - many of them with absolutely no idea what they were doing.

Sometimes you would approach an intersection which seemed to run almost as if the traffic lights were still working - the cars going straight would get a turn and then eventually someone would stop to allow the turning lanes a chance and so on. It was beautiful to behold. But more often than not, impatient drivers (many in American-style “truck” Utes) just tried to barge their way across intersections hoping someone else would stop for them.

At intersections near my place, tow trucks were camped out waiting for the inevitable carnage. More intersections - especially the busy ones, needed police on traffic control.

Most of us have unnecessary junk in our yards

That includes me. When I was going around securing my trampoline and clearing gutters I took the chance to get rid of piles of absolutely useless crap which could have easily turned into projectiles in cyclonic winds.

Empty pot plants, old buckets, bits of chicken wire once used to protect fresh turf from the dog, it was like spring cleaning.

In pictures: Homes crushed, streets ravaged as Alfred unleashes

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Better to have too many warnings than not enough

The Gold Coast Tornado of 2023 - which only lasted a couple of hours, was more destructive and caused far more long-lasting hardship.

And it took everyone by complete surprise, so anyone trying to buy tarps or ice or torches was behind the eight-ball from the start.

The worst part about having too many warnings was reading the whingers on social media complaining of a media beat-up. It was a mercy to have Internet cut so I didn’t have to read it anymore.

My fridge has far too many condiments

When you’re trying to save food in eskies or cooler bags, you have to make ruthless priorities - and that meant my condiments were casualties. A few old favourites can survive at room temperature anyway, but my collection of exotic spicy sauces from the Caribbean or my five flavours of Buffalo wing sauces did not survive. But all is not lost. I will rebuild.

Originally published as Jeremy Pierce: Six things I learnt from Cyclone Alfred