On the ground in Alfred’s wake

This time last week, like so many Australians, I watched transfixed as Tropical Cyclone Alfred edged closer to the coast of southern Queensland, threatening to devastate communities with 100km/h wind and flooding rains.

By the time the storm made landfall about 9pm on Saturday, it had lost some of its force while stalled off the coast and was downgraded to a tropical low. Mercifully, population centres in northern NSW and south-east Queensland still reeling from the 2002 floods were spared the worst. Many were still affected, however, as the storm carved a trail of destruction.

Tens of thousands of properties lost power for days, trees fell onto roads and homes, low-lying areas were flooded, traffic lights malfunctioned on major roads, and schools and businesses were closed. From Noosa to as far south as Coffs Harbour, some of our most famous beaches were washed away by huge swells. On the Gold Coast, wild seas gouged two- to three-metre cliffs into the sand.

The Gold Coast shoreline was hit hard by Tropical Cyclone Alfred.Credit: Justin McManus

Although things could have been so much worse, this was still an important story for The Age to cover.

Beyond the immediate and distressing impact on local communities – many of them with strong links to Melbourne – Alfred will almost certainly drive up insurance premiums and has reignited difficult conversations about where and how we should build our homes. This is a prevalent issue in many Victorian communities, such as Rochester.

Crucially, it has also sharpened the nation’s focus on the very real cost of climate change. This, after all, was the first time a tropical cyclone had threatened Australia’s east coast this far south in more than 50 years, and experts warn we may see more, and more severe, extreme weather further south as our atmosphere and oceans continue to warm.

This is why The Age dispatched senior reporter Adam Carey and photographer Justin McManus to the Gold Coast this week to support our Brisbane Times colleagues and cover the unfolding story from the ground. In this week’s editor’s note, I thought you might like to hear from Adam about what he found and what it’s like to report on an event such as this.

Adam, where are you at the moment?
On my way home from Surfers Paradise, where Justin and I had been staying since Monday, on the 11th floor of a hotel that overlooks the murky waters of the Nerang River.

Can you describe the scene on the ground up there?
Post-cyclonic calm. Alfred has been and gone and most of the mess it left in its wake has been cleaned up. Surfers Paradise looks like a tourist town again, with all of its glitz, except for the inconvenient fact that the beach is gone, washed away by surging tides, and swimming in the ocean is banned.

How do you prepare for an assignment like this?
In this case, there was no time for planning. We got the call early on Monday afternoon and were on a plane by evening. Frantic packing yields interesting results. I packed two pairs of pants but no rain jacket – heading into a tropical storm.

You were interviewing people who were probably at one of the lowest moments of their lives. How do you make sure you can tell their stories sensitively?
With empathy and a low-pressure approach. Ordinary people don’t need to be grilled like a politician. Most people are happy to share their stories if you don’t get in their face. If someone doesn’t want to talk or be photographed, we respect their wishes with good grace.

How would you describe the scale of the damage?
Tropical Cyclone Alfred lost intensity off the coast near Brisbane and was downgraded to a severe tropical storm by the time it reached the mainland. We’ve seen property damage, some minor flooding and a lot of trees and powerlines down, but the scene is not one of devastation.

How are the locals holding up?
Alfred’s impact has been very unevenly felt. Up in the Gold Coast hinterland, entire townships lost power and were cut off from the rest of the world for days. We met a man who had just arrived home to find a tree had speared through his roof, and a single mother and her family whose home was flooded due to a leaking ceiling, who had to light a campfire inside their house for cooking. These communities had a strong spirit of communal self-reliance and rallying around. For others we met, the storm seemed like little more than an irritant. One small business owner complained about the “overkill” of the government warnings and of having to close his business for a day during the height of the storm.

Is there a particular image or story that will stay with you after you return home?
The first look we got at the beaches of the Gold Coast were shocking, just to see how the ocean swell had carved these metres-high cliffs out of the sand and obliterated the beach.

Why is it important for The Age to cover a story like this, even though it happened almost 2000 kilometres away from Melbourne?
Many Melburnians have a connection to south-eastern Queensland. There are also important stories to be told about how forces of nature can upend people’s lives on a mass scale, whether close to home or not. Alfred is also an important climate story. It’s the first cyclone to travel this far south along Australia’s eastern seaboard in 50 years, and many climate scientists predict that warming oceans will bring cyclones this far south with greater frequency.

How do you keep safe when covering extreme weather events such as this?
Heed the official warnings about where to go and where not to go. Stay in touch. And don’t be a cowboy.

Get a weekly wrap of views that will challenge, champion and inform your own. Sign up for our Opinion newsletter.