Thanks to the exceptional efforts of our lifeguards, our volunteers, emergency services, our local council, the preparedness of residents and the largely skirting around Noosa of ex-Tropical Cyclone Alfred we have largely escaped unscathed with little more than the eroded cliffs of eastern beaches leaving a mark of its visit.
Noosa State Emergency Service (SES) local controller Warren Kuskopf said there was not one call to them for assistance as the the cyclone threatened Noosa last weekend.
Instead Noosa SES crews opted to help out our near neighbours with some in Hervey Bay and others on the Sunshine Coast.
Mayor Frank Wilkie commended the efforts of residents, community groups, council staff and partner agencies in preparing for the potential impacts of Tropical Cyclone Alfred.
“We’ve been extremely fortunate and our community has done a fantastic job in being well-informed and prepared,” Cr Wilkie said.
Cr Wilkie said the Local Disaster Management Group (LDMG) was prepared and learned much from the exercise.
“This cyclone tested our processes in the newly built Local Disaster Coordination Centre and was a good opportunity for the three levels of government to coordinate resources plus communications to, and from, the community.”
In October 2024, Cr Wilkie stood with Sunshine Coast Mayor Rosanna Natoli to jointly launch Get Ready week. Five months later, both councils worked together to respond to TC Alfred.
“As the newly appointed LDMG chair, I can say the cooperation, support and effort between all agencies was extremely professional.
“That outward-facing, community focus was reflected through three levels of government during daily meetings with the District Disaster and Queensland Disaster Management Groups.
“For us, it was a very valuable exercise and impressive to see the community respond by taking precautions.
“We’re grateful to those in the community who were out shoveling sand into sandbags, the welfare agencies who helped the vulnerable and our council crews that continually delivered sand and removed potential debris in the lead up to the event.”
Mr Kuskopf said early preparation may have contributed to the lack of assistance required during the event.
Noosa Council provided more than 500 tonnes of sand over the past week to locations across the shire for sand bags.
Mr Kuskopf praised the response from Noosa residents who came to fill about 30,000 sand bags to prevent flooding at homes and businesses and the local SES volunteers who had stood up to offer assistance.
Last week SES volunteers and others completed more than 120 jobs sandbagging houses for vulnerable people and a couple of roof repairs before the wind increased, he said.
“Nearly 30 volunteers helped on Friday before the event has happened,” Mr Kuskopf said.
“We’ve had members from Rural Fire Service, particularly from Black Mountain and from Fire and Emergency Rescue.
Mr Kuskopf said all emergency services workers were in communication with each other and on standby. We had nearly 50 SES members sitting, waiting, ready to help.”
Council opened Noosa Leisure Centre as a Refuge Evacuation Centre for people with nowhere else to go and Tewantin-Noosa Lions Club members responded immediately to serve food.
About 10 people spent Friday night at the centre with Council staff operating the facility and Queensland Police and Queensland Ambulance officers supporting them.
Among them were James from Brisbane and overseas travellers Noureddine and Gwen who were very thankful for a safe and comfortable stay with showers and “perfect” food. “It was very nice, thank you,” Noureddine said.
Council’s waste contractor Cleanaway also stepped up during the event, servicing commercial businesses over the weekend to maintain their operations and manage waste volumes.
“They also secured additional drivers and trucks for catch-up bin collections from Monday 10 March, which was a great result for our community and much appreciated. They’ve certainly gone over and above in difficult circumstances,” Cr Wilkie said.
Residents have been urged to stay off coastal dunes that have been weakened and eroded by the cyclone and may be susceptible to collapse, putting people at risk.
Mr Kuskopf urged people to hold on to their sandbags after the cyclone event, saying they would keep for a year and could be used again in a future event if stored under cover.
As Noosa can count itself lucky Cr Wilkie said: “Our thoughts are with those residents in the Sunshine Coast hinterland, Moreton Bay and south-east Queensland who face many weeks of clean up.”
