This website was originally prepared for Cyclone Alfred, but the information is useful for 'natural' disasters in general. It's debatable if disastrous weather can be called 'natural' anymore due to the global warming effect of fossil fuels, but that's for another blog.
To prepare for Cyclone Alfred, here are some things that you need to think about:
- Following key information sources
- Cleaning up outdoors
- Planning to shelter in your place
- Planning for water, power, and transport to be cut off
- Planning for severe flooding
- Talking to your neighbours
NOTE: Ferries (Hoppers and City Cats) are not running from today (4th March) until further notice. Other public transport will probably stop running closer to the Cyclone making landfall. Follow translink to see current and planned disruptions.
How Council & our Ward office can support you
- Council offers free sandbags.
- I’ve successfully lobbied for another sandbag depot much closer to the most flood-prone parts of our ward at the Old Toowong Bowls Club at the corner of Gailey Road and Heroes Avenue.
- Another nearby sandbag location is Newmarket SES Depot, 66 Wilston Rd - other standard depots are here, and temporary depots are here. If you can, please BYO shovels, cable ties, and bags.
- If you or someone that you know are elderly or have mobility disabilities, you can request a sandbag delivery from SES volunteers via 132 500.
- The BCC Emergency Dashboard is an all-in-on dashboard of critical information including: for status of creek and river alerts, roads closures, power outages, evacuation centres, warnings, emergency contacts.
- Our Ward office acts as a liaison to the central Council Disaster Coordination Centre. The Councillor will be kept up to date of any local impacts.
- Call the Council 24 hour hotline 3403 8888 to report a range of local issues, such as local damage, inaccessible roads, debris on roads.
- If there is major damage in our Ward, we will mobilise to help organise volunteers to support our community.
Some key information sources & contacts
- BOM provide key updates during emergencies.
- Brisbane City Council also has specific information about particular creeks and local information via the Brisbane Severe Weather Alert Service.
- BCC Emergency Dashboard compiles local alerts, road closures, and more key information.
- Follow ABC Emergency.
- Check BCC Flood Awareness Maps.
- For SES assistance (roof tarping, tree down on property, water coming into home) call 132 500.
- Call Urban Utilities on 13 23 64 for leaking water pipes, sewerage and wastewater, drinking water supply issues.
- Call Energex on 136 262 for fallen power lines and power outages, for status of creek and river alerts, road closures, power outages, evacuation centres and warnings.
Clean your outdoors from anything that could be picked up by wind
All of your gardening tools, bikes, and plants need to come inside. Loose branches need to be trimmed, and sent to a green waste tip ASAP. Anything else loose needs to be tied down, stored, or removed. You don’t want your old shovel flying into your neighbour’s window.
Plan a safe place to shelter
Plan for either a safe room or two in your house, or a shelter building elsewhere. A safe room could be a hallway, a bathroom, or a big walk-in wardrobe. It needs to be away from windows, in case they are broken by flying debris.
Plan to be self-sufficient with very limited electricity, water, and transport for a few days
Power and water supply will probably be disrupted. We’re fortunate to be in inner-Brisbane, with some of the most resilient water and power supplies in Queensland, but fixing damaged poles and pipes will still take several days if not weeks because of the damage to the whole city.
Fill up pots, bottles, and jerry cans with tap water. It’s better to have more than you expect - you might be drinking, showering, and washing dishes with this water. If you have a spare bathtub, give it a clean and fill it up with water too.
Fill an esky with ice, and remember that your fridge and freezer can stay quite cool as long as they aren’t opened. Refill the gas for your barbeque or camping cooker, and restock on shelf-stable ingredients. Look up a few meal recipes that don’t need any fridged or frozen ingredients. They don’t need to be gourmet, just enough to sustain you and your family.
Charge all devices and batteries/battery packs in advance, and plan to use them for finding updates and essential communication. If you have some, dust off camping solar panels and consider letting your neighbours charge devices from them too.
If you have medications that can only be stored at non-freezing fridge temperatures, these are particularly challenging, and you should talk to your pharmacist about what you can do with your specific medication.
The Queensland Government has useful information about preparing a household emergency kit, and here is a useful emergency kit checklist:
Plan for severe flooding before and after the cyclone
We’re already used to flooding, but we might be dealing with it under particularly tough circumstances in the next few days. Get sandbags, move things to high places, and figure out escape routes now. Put together precious and important items for evacuation now. Consider taking leave or work-from-home time this afternoon, Wednesday, and Thursday to prepare yourself properly.
Give BCC Flood Awareness Maps another look, and be prepared for flash flooding in 'overland flow' areas.
If you or someone that you know are elderly or have mobility disabilities, you can request a sandbag delivery from SES volunteers via 132 500, or https://www.ses.qld.gov.au/contact-us. If you can support elderly or mobility disabled people in your life with sandbags, it would be great to take pressure off the very limited resources of the SES, and save that for people without as much support.
Talk to your neighbours
This is one of the most important times to talk to your neighbours. One of you might know a local community space or business that’s acting as a temporary shelter, or have some extra camping kit to lend or share. Sharing information with each other is so important and helpful. You never know what someone else needs, or can offer to help.
Stay calm and be kind
If Cyclone Alfred does land in Brisbane, it will be awful. But we’ll all be trying to help each other get through it.
My office and I will do our best to help, but we may be overwhelmed. The Council’s hotline will still be operating 24/7.
Our office number is 3403 2520, and the Brisbane City Council hotline is 3403 8888. The fire department and ambulances will still be online via 000, and the SES will be active via 132 500.
Please take the time to prepare. You’ll thank yourself later.