‘Day to act’: Northern NSW on evacuation alert before Cyclone Alfred
The entire NSW Northern Rivers region has been urged to stay indoors as Alfred bears down with power outages ‘almost certain’.
The entire NSW Northern Rivers region has been urged to stay indoors, as NSW Premier Chris Minns compares Cyclone Alfred to an “unwanted house guest” that will “linger even longer” over the state.
On Thursday, it was announced 15 disaster recovery grants would be distributed among councils in northern NSW.
It came as the category 2 tropical cyclone slowed overnight to 7km/h, pushing back its landfall to Friday afternoon, however the delay is unlikely to mitigate its impact.
Mr Minns urged caution and preparation, saying Thursday was the “day to act”.
‘Day to act’
“There are 24 areas or communities that are subject at the moment to prepare to evacuate orders. It’s very serious and we want to make sure those communities are aware they are currently within the potential path of the storm,” he said at a press conference in Lismore.
“We know the communities in the Northern Rivers are resilient people but we need them to understand that the threat is not over and, as a result, they need to make sure they are doing everything they can to prepare.
“It’s incredibly important that we minimise the amount of people that need to be rescued in the event of a massive natural disaster. Even the best-resourced, best-trained emergency services outfit in the world can’t be everywhere instantly in the event of a major natural disaster. We are asking the community to do their bit.”
‘Unwanted house guest’
The BOM advised sections of the NSW coast from the Coolangatta border to Grafton will sit inside the cyclone’s warning area from landfall.
“Alfred is behaving at the moment like a completely unwanted house guest. It’s told us it’s going to be late but linger even longer,” Mr Minns said.
“Unfortunately that means the window for destruction in our community, heavy rains, winds, (and) powerful surges is longer than we would have otherwise liked.”
NSW Deputy Premier Prue Car announced the disaster funding on Thursday morning after Anthony Albanese signposted $1 million in recovery grants.
“I can inform people that the Premier of NSW has also written to the Prime Minister about disaster recovery grants for 15 councils. The Prime Minister has indicated this morning that he will sign that today and that will mean there will be some financial support,” Ms Car said at a press conference.
“We have seen overnight a delay in terms of when the tropical cyclone is due to cross the coast. This does not mean, however, that there is any reduction in terms of the severity of this future event.
“Now we are seeing rainfall at significant levels and people on the north coast are already responding to this and they are living in it at the moment.
“Make sure that you have used this opportunity of this delay to have more time to prepare for the possible evacuation over the next 24 hours.”
SES well equipped
Despite isolated shortages of sandbags on Wednesday, Ms Car said the SES would maintain supply as well as it could through the final preparatory hours.
“Obviously we will be pulling out all the stops to make sure there are enough sandbags for people to get prepared,” she said.
“The SES is well equipped to ensure that we are prepared to support the people of the Northern Rivers and the Mid North Coast to prepare for this in this window of opportunity as we wait for the cyclone to cross the coast.”
The latest Bureau of Meteorology technical bulletin indicates the chances Cyclone Alfred will graduate to a low-end category 3 have slimmed, with the cyclone’s peak intensity likely to culminate on Thursday and plateau through landfall.
Northern NSW will endure six hours of rainfall from Thursday evening totalling between 60mm and 120mm according to the BOM. It leaves flash flooding likely.
“We still have a period of three days of increasing rainfall and wind for NSW residents. The peak of the rain and the peak of the wind is expected to be a little delayed, closer to when the tropical cyclone crosses the coast. But we are still expecting deteriorating weather more generally through today and tonight,” BOM meteorologist Jane Golding said, standing alongside Ms Car.
Mental health support
Mental Health Minister Rose Jackson said support would be available at evacuation centres.
NSW SES Commissioner Michael Wassing said those who feel at risk should not wait to evacuate.
“I want to be really clear that a delay in the timing of the crossing of the cyclone across landfall does not mean less impact. We’re already seeing the impacts of significant winds and coastal surge,” he said.
“If you feel like you are at risk, now is the time to relocate. There are significant numbers of evacuation centres.
“We are really fortunate in NSW, we have significant resources and we have been able to pre-deploy those resources.
“We are doing this in a shared ability, in terms of our planning and resourcing with Queensland, so we have actually been engaged very closely with Queensland and continue to be so we can share resources where we need to.”
Just after 6am, NSW State Emergency Service issued a ‘stay indoors’ advisory to all inhabitants of the Northern Rivers.
“The NSW SES is advising people to STAY INDOORS due to impacts from Tropical Cyclone Alfred UNLESS they have been directed to evacuate due to expected flooding,” the warning reads.
“Cyclone impacts include damaging wind gusts, heavy to locally intense rainfall, abnormally high tide and hazardous surf.”
Relief grants praise
Lismore state MP Janelle Saffin praised the pre-emptive release of disaster relief grants, calling it “money in the kitty” that would encourage councils to act early without fear of dipping into their own funds.
“They’ve been given time to prepare and that’s what they’ve done. They’ve used that time really well,” Ms Saffin told The Australian.
“It’s some money to get cracking and that doesn’t mean that’s all, but it’s just to give confidence and comfort to the councils (that) we can do this – we can get ready, we can move stuff, we can do what we’ve got to do.”
Cyclone Alfred was sitting 325km east of Brisbane on Thursday morning.
In NSW, 10,000 homes are under “Prepare to Evacuate” warnings with 2000 SES volunteers active through the Northern Rivers and Mid North Coast.
Flood evacuation warnings for Tweed Heads, Ballina, South Golden Beach, Pottsville and Hastings Point have maintained since Wednesday night.
Speaking to Channel 7 from Lismore, Mr Minns said the cyclone’s impact would dredge up “terrible memories” for the town, having endured devastating flooding three years earlier.
“The town of Lismore has been to hell and back over the last few years. 2022 was a devastating natural disaster, one of the worst not just in Lismore’s history but in Australia’s history,” he said.
Flooding expected
“The town is ready for the next 72 hours but you wouldn’t wish this on your worst enemy. Obviously very traumatic and brings out some terrible memories for a tough town.
“There are three things we are worried about when it comes to this cyclone: dangerous seas, particularly surf conditions and their impact on the coast, then the wind and you’re already seeing intense wind now at Cape Byron that will move inland, and finally riverine flooding.
“We still expect parts of flooding in the Northern Rivers. We need to send a clear message to people not to drive through flooded rivers under any circumstances. It is the most common way people lose their lives.”
Lismore mayor Steve Krieg joked that it was like “the reformation of the Beatles” when he spoke alongside emergency services personnel.
“The band is back together,” Mr Krieg said.
“I want to stress to everyone this is the very start of what we are about to face, and so heed the warning. It is critical that you heed the warning. Don’t put others in danger because you want to become an environmental tourist.
“Stay at home, protect your loved ones and please stay safe.”
The Red Cross urged those able to give blood, as the closure of centres through the affected region impacted donations.
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