Independent report approves of Brisbane City Council’s Cyclone Alfred response
An independent report gave a thumbs-up to Brisbane City Council’s emergency service response to Cyclone Alfred, but laid down 12 recommendations for the future.
An independent review of Brisbane City Council’s handling of the first cyclone emergency in 50 years has praised its emergency response.
Southeast Queensland was put on alert in March as Tropical Cyclone Alfred stalked the coast for days, causing significant flooding from Hervey Bay to northern NSW before crossing the coast as a category 1 system at Moreton Bay on March 8.
The first direct-hit cyclone threat in 50 years brought winds of up to 75km/h in the Brisbane area, toppling trees and power lines, and leaving 56,935 households without power.
After the storm made landfall, it delivered the city’s biggest drenching in 50 years, with the daily total on March 10 eclipsing 275mm.
Former Queensland governor Paul de Jersey gave Brisbane an “A+” grade after analysing the nation’s largest council’s management of the freak weather event.
Despite the strong assessment, the report made 12 recommendations for future storm resilience, suggesting council improve existing emergency procedures and ensure that insurance companies cover disaster recovery volunteers.
Mr de Jersey said the council’s response to Alfred was completely satisfactory.
“I’m not shy of (being) critical where it’s warranted but in this assessment, there has been no need for criticism,” he said.
“The council did a great job in delivering warnings and we have the weather zone facility too for alerts, which was accessed by many residents.
“Having conducted the review, I’ll give it an A+.”
Further recommendations for the council include setting up more self-service sandbag stations and promoting the Brisbane Severe Weather Alert service.
During the week-long storm, Brisbane residents visited the council’s Emergency Dashboard 1.6 million times and used the notice period to prepare their homes using a total of 527,000 sandbags.
After the rain, more than 600 people were deployed to help in the immediate clean-up.
Brisbane lord mayor Adrian Schrinner confirmed that the council will be accepting and implementing all 12 of Mr de Jersey’s recommendations.
“Brisbane is committed to learning from every severe weather event, including Tropical Cyclone Alfred,” Mr Schrinner said.
“This work that (Mr de Jersey) has done will help us be prepared for the next one, and we hope that is no time soon, but we will be ready regardless.”
State Disaster Recovery Minister Ann Leahy said the government acknowledged that “working hand in hand with councils is key to swift disaster response and long-term community recovery”.
Several of the recommendations in the report were similar to those Mr de Jersey made to council in the aftermath of the 2022 flood disaster.
He said it was important to ensure council was kept on course.
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