Cyclone Alfred: ‘Take it seriously’, PM warns as farmers urged to prepare
Nationals leader David Littleproud said he was concerned about the cyclone’s impact on the food bowls of the Lockyer Valley and the Granite Belt.
Farmers in southeast Queensland and northern New South Wales are being urged to prepare for the arrival of Cyclone Alfred, as Prime Minister Anthony Albanese sends in the Australian Defence Force to help with preparations and the aftermath.
Mr Albanese warned those in the path of the category 2 system cyclone to “take this seriously” ahead of its expected impact on land between the Sunshine Coast and Brisbane about 1am on Friday.
Nationals leader David Littleproud said he was concerned about the cyclone’s impact on the food bowls of the Lockyer Valley in southeast Queensland and the Granite Belt in the Darling Downs.
“First and foremost, it’s about keeping people safe through this event. But subsequent to that is about how much damage that’ll cause,” Mr Littleproud said.
“Much of the east coast food is produced in the Lockyer Valley and on the Southern Downs and the Granite Belt. It’s important that we’re able to, when we’ve got a cost-of-living crisis, to be able to make sure that we can get as much of that produce off.
“But as soon as the event hits, it’s important that we have boots on the ground to make sure that we can salvage whatever needs to be salvaged to get as much supply in,” he said.
Chief executive of Queensland farmers’ peak lobby group AgForce, Mike Guerin, said it was a dangerous moment, “We’re urging people to follow the best advice and to take it seriously”.
“We’ve had a few days’ warning and we’re seeing signs of people acknowledging what’s coming and protecting productive land, and most importantly human beings and animals,” he said.
Mr Guerin said horticultural crops around the Gold Coast were particularly at risk.
“There the potential loss of a lot of fruit and vegetables in the immediate aftermath. The broader community needs to expect there will be food shortages,” he said.
The storm is expected to hit just four weeks after parts of north Queensland were inundated with floodwater, impacting the banana producing region of Tully.
“We lost a lot of bananas, cane, some cattle. There will be a shortage of bananas off the back of that one and we’re still understanding the damage to food production,” Mr Guerin said.
NSW farmers from the Tweed and Northern Rivers down to the mid-north coast have been preparing for high winds, flooding and storm surges expected over Thursday and Friday.
NSW Farmers’ far north coast branch chair Craig Huf said farmers were putting flood mounds to use, tying down infrastructure and moving gear, while some were stocking up on essentials in case of becoming isolated by floodwater.
It’s been almost 50 years since a tropical cyclone made landfall this far south of the east coast.
Southeast Queensland and northeast NSW were most likely to be impacted, first by gale force winds of between 90km/hr and 130km/hr and later by heavy rainfall of up to 800mm over a few days, the Bureau of Meteorology said.
The Prime Minister said the ADF would supply an extra 250,000 sandbags, while Blackhawk and Sikorsky S-61 helicopters would be stationed in Bundaberg, in the Wide Bay region of Queensland, and Coffs Harbour in northern NSW.
For more information about coastal hazards, Flood Watches or heavy rainfall refer to warnings at http://www.bom.gov.au/australia/warnings.
