Brisbane residents’ tensions rise in the calm before the storm
Brisbane has not been menaced by a cyclone since 1974, and its residents are understandably worrying what Cyclone Alfred has in store for them.
In the hot, sticky calm before the storm, the good people of O’Quinn Street, Nudgee Beach, worry what Cyclone Alfred has in store for them.
They’ve endured floods and the icy lash of supercell hailstorms, but this is a first: a full-blown cyclone bearing down on the nation’s third-largest city, unleashing destructive winds, torrential rain and nagging uncertainty for all in its path.
Brisbane has not been menaced by a cyclone since 1974, long before a heavily pregnant Maryanne Sweet was born.
Like her neighbours in Nudgee Beach – a northside suburb at high risk of being inundated, either by the anticipated storm surge or erupting creeks – she’s beset by anxiety and questions.
Will the roof hold? How do they tape their windows? Where does the family retreat to if worse comes to worst when the cyclone hits?
Her father-in-law, Merv Gardiner, 69, has driven down from Hervey Bay to help prepare for the onslaught.
“He’s panicking,” 39-year-old Ms Sweet said.
“I’m trying to make you panic,” her father-in-law shot back. “You’ve got my grandchild on board.”
A few doors along, Quintin and Artika Lunow ordered in two tonnes of sand to barricade their three-storey home that went under in 2022 during Brisbane’s last major flood.
The repairs have only recently been completed, and they’re not taking chances with Alfred. “I’m really nervous, anxious, because the building industry has been a nightmare and trades are awful to get hold of,” said Ms Lunow, 43, between stacking sandbags with her 45-year-old husband.
“Whatever we can do to save the house, we will do it.”
Police were doorknocking the suburb on Wednesday, appealing to everyone to make up their minds whether to stay or flee.
Modelling by Brisbane City Council shows that a storm surge of up to 1m could be added to a 1.5m-plus king tide, depending on when Alfred crosses the coast early on Friday. Landfall is currently predicted to take place after dawn, coinciding with an ebb tide.
Ms Sweet, who is 30 weeks’ pregnant, said she would travel to her father’s Sunshine Coast home to wait out the drama.
“If I had an emergency and the ambulance couldn’t get through, that would not be good,” she said.
If the cyclone is trying the nerves of the 4.5 million people in the impact zone, reaching south to northern NSW, it will also provide a stern test of building standards across the sprawling Queensland capital.
Pre-World War II homes in the city are covered by blanket heritage protection, effectively preventing their demolition. This makes for an expanse of tin-and-timber homes designed to capture breezes, not withstand cyclonic winds.
Modern design trends compound the potential problems. Open-plan and outdoor living spaces with picture windows and floor-to-ceiling glass, combined with lightweight construction materials, make homes more vulnerable to storm damage.
“This house is built for flood and would be secure for a storm, but there hasn’t been a cyclone in 50 years, so we’re worried about how the house is going to hold up,” said financial adviser Brett Ambrose, 55, who lives in a flood-prone pocket of Ashgrove in Brisbane’s inner north.
“With the winds, our greatest fear is something hitting us. We’re surrounded by massive trees.”
Mr Ambrose and wife Sheree, 51, a registered nurse, were stocking the refrigerator and getting in 50l bottles of water.
“It is a totally different feeling than preparing for floods – floods are something that we’re used to and something we know,” Ms Ambrose said.
“I’ve never lived through a cyclone, so I am genuinely … uneasy about it.”
So is 102-year-old Mina Barker, who lives in a Queenslander in nearby Tennis Avenue with daughter Gail Barfoot, 76.
The grand old lady survived World War II, two Brisbane floods and the Christchurch earthquake – but this is her first cyclone.
She was evacuated by a swiftwater rescue team after waters surrounded the property three years ago.
“You have to take it in your stride and move on,” Ms Barker said.
Her daughter chimed in: “This house has managed to survive through floods, but we don’t know about cyclones. We’re just trying not to panic and trying to be prepared.”
Christine Brown was a girl living in Darwin when Cyclone Tracy devastated the Top End city on Christmas Day, 1974, killing dozens.
The then 12-year-old took shelter under a bed with her eight-year-old sister, Geraldine, and their mother as the house came apart around them.
Tragically, Geraldine died when the roof peeled off.
Now 62, Ms Brown lives alone in a caravan and annex at the Bribie Island Caravan Park on Jacana Avenue at Woorim.
Just 500m from the beach on the eastern, surf side of the island, it allows her to be close to her frail mother, Kay, who has advanced dementia.
On Tuesday, she packed up her minibus and drove inland to the Blackbutt Showgrounds, 125km from the coast, to sit out the danger.
“I got very nervous, to be honest with you,” she said. “I’d just been in Darwin commemorating 50 years of Cyclone Tracy and then this happened.
“People who’ve never been through a storm or anything traumatic were like, ‘Oh yeah, it’s cool’. And I was saying, ‘I’m going’.
“Some people were frightened. Some people weren’t. A couple of my friends have just left the island today, and some people don’t want to leave their homes, and I understand that.
“I don’t know what I’ll be coming home to. I may not have a home when I get there. But we can’t worry about that, because there’s nothing we can do about it. I just want to be safe and just ride this one out.”
In Nudgee Beach, the Lunows’ neighbour, Julie Steel, 41, was preparing her home as best as she could with husband, Pavel, 53. They were crisscrossing the windows with duct tape.
“Our house itself will not flood because it’s built high, but the wind is going to be very strong and branches could fly in,” said Ms Steel. Another local, Dave Breakspear, 52, was lending a hand to tie down their children’s trampoline. Their two boys had gone to their grandparents’ home at North Lakes – just in case.
Kerrie and Bob Doherty were also staying put, though they expected advice from the police to leave. “I would rather be here should anything need to be done,” said Ms Doherty, 72.
Additional reporting: David Murray, Natasha Bita
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