Emergencies

Advice for Cyclone Alfred

The Bureau of Meteorology (BOM) has issued an alert for the Brisbane area with Cyclone Alfred very likely to to make landfall near Brisbane as a Category 2 cyclone with wind speeds of up to 164kmh sometime between Thursday and Friday. We can expect heavy rain and very high winds from today until the weekend.

Cyclones can be unpredictable and there is a chance of Alfred bringing a significant rain event to our area.

That is why it's important to download the BOM Weather app at bom.gov.au/app, and allow notifications to get alerts on your phone. You can also check out the BOM website at bom.gov.au/cyclone/index.shtml.

I recommend also bookmarking Brisbane City Council’s emergency dashboard which details power outages, road closures and traffic accidents across the city, as well as current weather warnings and the location of evacuation centres when they’re opened. You can also sign up to Council’s severe weather SMS alerts.

I've also worked with the community to provide important information about Cyclone Alfred in translations of Spanish, Portuguese, Arabic and Mandarin.

Over the next few days, I encourage everyone to take a few measures to help you, your family and your neighbourhood prepare for the possibility of high winds and flash flooding.

Here’s a list of a few things that will only take a couple of hours to check off but will make a huge difference when the impact occurs.

Download the BOM Weather app and allow notifications for up-to-the-minute alerts
Make an emergency plan for your home — especially making sure you’ve cleaned up your garden, secured your outdoor furniture, and have tarps and guide ropes on hand to secure your roof.
Clear out any potential blockages or flying object hazards by cleaning up your yard, disposing of loose timber, bricks or yard waste, prune any large overhanging branches, clear everything off your balcony if you can or move outdoor furniture inside or secure them with ropes, and make sure you roof drains, downpipes, stormwater drains and overflow relief gullies flow clear.
If you’re near a creek or in a high flooding risk area, get some sandbags from the Old Toowong Bowls Club, corner Gailey Road and Heroes Avenue. You’re advised to bring your own shovel, zip ties and — ideally — bags if you can and prepare for long waits.
Check on your home’s emergency kits — both your stay bag and your go bag — to make sure you have non-perishable food, sealed water containers, first aid kits and enough medicine, torches, spare batteries and fully-charged portable power banks.
Check in on your neighbours, swap names, phone numbers and email addresses, make sure they’re aware of the cyclone risk, and help them secure their gardens, decks and roofs to avoid heavy objects being thrown around by the high winds.

Here's some additional information you might have missed:

Brisbane City Council and SES have opened a sandbag collection site at the Old Toowong Bowls Club, corner Gailey Road and Heroes Avenue. You’re advised to bring your own shovel, zip ties and — ideally — bags if you can and prepare for long waits. Check Brisbane City Council’s sandbag website before leaving home to make sure the depot hasn’t run out. The Newmarket SES site at 66 Wilston Road is not currently open for sandbag pickup (Thursday 6 March).
If you are elderly or have a disability and can’t collect your own sandbags, please call SES on 132 500 and they can deliver. Please be aware that there could be a long wait for delivery but SES is aiming for same-day.
Green waste can be dumped for free from 6:30am to 8:45pm at Brisbane City Council waste recovery centres. Our closest locations are 101 Upper Kedron Road, Ferny Grove and 728 Tilley Road, Chandler.
Contact your local Councillor for free waste vouchers to remove flood-affected furniture.
For those who receive a Centrelink payment, please be advised that Workforce Australia mutual obligations have been suspended from today until Tuesday 11 March.
Public transport is no longer running until further notice.
Household waste collection has ceased until next week.
Brisbane City Council has announced a citywide amnesty for parking enforcement which means no one should feel worried about parking restrictions and signage if it means keeping their car safe and out of potential flood waters.
Other Council facilities like libraries, pools and community halls will be closed from Thursday.
Schools and universities will be closed Thursday and Friday.
All Qantas, Virgin and Jetstar flights are now suspended from Brisbane Airport until Sunday or later.
River crossings including the Gateway Motorway will be closed when winds reach 90km/h so plan ahead assuming that you can't cross the river from Wednesday afternoon.
A childcare subsidy period of emergency has been declared so absences will not be punished and gap fees will be waived.
Brisbane City Council are prioritising clearing stormwater drains and dangerous overhanging branches in public parks and on street trees. If you see a potential hazard on public land, please urgently call 07 3403 8888 to report it.

If you need help preparing, please get in touch with me ASAP. My office number is (07) 3862 4044 and you can email me on [email protected]. You can also fill in my non-urgent request form at stephenbates.com.au/cyclonehelp.

My office and I can help directly where we can, and we can also refer you to community organisations and local SES depots.

We never know what the next summer holds — whether it’s the wet season or the dry. Climate change means we’re going to have longer, hotter summers, and more and more extreme weather.

Our future holds more floods, more bushfires, more severe storms and more heatwaves — and the only way we’re all going to get through this is if we work together and help each other.

This information helps you, your families and your neighbourhood prepare for natural disasters and emergencies — and if you’d like to help out more, join our emergency response team.

Make a plan

Emergencies happen suddenly and it’s important to plan ahead so you know what to do when the time comes.

Involve your whole family — and your neighbours if you can — and you should always plan for the worst.

Consider:

Is my home or business likely to be affected? Consider the landscape around your home or business. Are you on a flood plain? Are you near bushland? Are there any large trees with branches overhanging your home, car or powerlines? You can check flood or fire risk maps to see at a glance.
How can I secure my home? Pruning large overhanging branches, having tarps and guide ropes on hand and knowing how to use sandbags are all handy skills. You should also consider who might be able to secure your home if you are away or at work and can’t get back safely.
Where will you go if you have to evacuate? Whether it’s a family member’s or friend’s house or a central evacuation centre, make a note of where you can get to safely and quickly during an emergency. Many roads can be blocked or unsafe to drive on, especially through bushland or in low-lying flood-prone areas, so consider alternative routes.
What arrangements can you make for pets? RSPCA has a guide on preparing your pet for an emergency and suggest making sure you include pet food and medication in your emergency kits, have at least two weeks of pet supplies at home and making sure your pets are microchipped and have collar tags with current contact details.
How does my plan change with different kinds of emergencies? You might need different preventative measures or evacuation plans for floods and fires. Make sure you have backup plans that take different circumstances into account.
What do we need to take with us? Make a list of your most important things to pack when you need to leave quickly. You can’t take everything, so pack your emergency kits and a few changes of clothes in your car and see how much space is left. Think about what your most cherished valuables and mementos are. Most of your possessions can be replaced — so prioritise the ones that can’t.
What does my home and car insurance cover? Some insurance policies have exclusions and exceptions for natural disasters like bushfires and floods. Check your policies and assess whether it is appropriate for your home’s bushfire and flood risk.
Do you or your friends and family have a disability? Queenslanders with a Disability Network have put together this great emergency preparedness resource that they co-designed with people with a disability
Do I have all my key contacts saved? Make sure you get up-to-date contact details saved in your phone for your family, friends, neighbours and health network — especially your emergency contacts. It’s good to have a written down copy of key contacts in case of blackouts or losing your phone.

The Queensland Government has a great emergency plan template on their Get Ready website — and you can download factsheets in languages other than English to help family members understand how to plan for an emergency.

Build an emergency kit

Having emergency kits are important parts of planning for an emergency.

Try to build two different emergency kits — one for your home to help you shelter safely in place, and one for your car that you can quickly pack in the event you have to evacuate.

Your home kit, sometimes known as a stay bag, should help you be safe for a few days on your own in the event of being isolated and without internet, electricity or safe tap water. This should include non-perishable food, sealed water containers, a first aid kit and important medicine, and emergency items like torches, radios, spare batteries and fully-charged portable power banks. Depending on whether you’re flood or fire prone, you might need more specialist kit like sandbags or fire extinguishers.

Your car kit, sometimes known as a go bag, should include your most important possessions that you can quickly pack in your car in the event of an emergency. You can pre-pack some of it, but most you’ll need to pack quickly and go — so making a list is important. A car kit might include a few days’ clothes, space medicine and health aids, and device chargers, as well as a list of valuables, irreplaceable mementoes, personal identification documents, and must-haves like laptops and phones.

To help you get an idea of what you might need in your emergency kits, check out Get Ready’s interactive planner.

Sign up for warnings

During the emergency, waiting for social media or the news to tell you what’s happening can sometimes be too late.

The best place to get reliable and timely information about emergencies is to sign up to official emergency alerts.

The Bureau of Meteorology has an app for smartphones and you can also check their website for current alerts.
The Queensland Fire and Emergency Services has a feed of all bushfires and warnings across Queensland on their website.
Brisbane City Council has SMS and landline alerts to notify you of storms or severe weather at up to three addresses
ABC Radio Brisbane is the emergency radio station for our area and has the most up-to-date information in a crisis. You can listen via the ABC Listen app and it’s good to have a battery-powered radio in your emergency kit.

Floods

A changing climate means once-in-a-lifetime floods are now a regular occurrence in all our lives.

Floods are unpredictable and neighbourhoods spared floods in previous seasons won’t always be so fortunate. Everyone in Brisbane — especially if you live near a creek, wetland or in a low-lying area — needs to be alive to the risk of flooding near their homes.

There’s no way to completely protect your homes from potential damage. But there are steps you can take to reduce the impact of floods.

Check your flood risk using the Brisbane City Council’s flood awareness map.
Clean out potential blockages by cleaning up your yard and disposing of timber, loose bricks or other large objects that might get caught in flood water, and ensuring your roof drains, downpipes and stormwater drains flow cleanly. If you live in a freestanding house, make sure you check your overflow relief gully too.
Collect sandbags either pre-filled and for free from Council’s depots or you can buy your own from a hardware store.
Make structural changes to improve your flood resilience like raising your home, building water direction barriers, or wet-proofing your home.

Storms and cyclones

Severe storms and cyclones are unpredictable and often bring very high winds and lots of rain. Intense storms during already wet seasons signal an increased flood risk.

In addition to all the steps to prepare for a flood, there are some additional measures you can take if an intense storm is likely in your area.

Check your roof for loose sheets or shingles and make sure they're properly fixed with roofing screws rated for high winds.
Move any potential flying object hazards like outdoor furniture, pot plants, gardening tools or BBQs inside or secure them with guide ropes.
Unplug sensitive electrical devices inside your house and identify where your safety switches are.
Use tape to seal the edges of windows, particularly older ones, to avoid water seeping in. Taping across windows have little utility in a storm and will not stop glass shattering.
Investigate exterior barriers to glass windows or doors like metal bars or shutters. Be careful because improperly installed barriers might become flying hazards so talk to a professional before doing this.
Lower your blinds or close your curtains to help avoid glass entering the house in the event windows are damaged.
Make sure your vehicles are parked under cover, have the handbrake on and - if possible - put chocks under wheels of trailers and boats.

Remember there's no way to completely protect your home and the best you can do is reduce possible damage, look after your family and pets, and keep an eye out on your neighbours.

Bushfires and smoke

While most of our inner city suburbs are far away from bushfires, there’s still parks and bushland near us that are at risk as summers get hotter and drier — and smoke can travel from hundreds of kilometres away and affects us all.

When there are bushfires near Brisbane, here’s some things you should do:

Check your bushfire risk using the Queensland Fire and Emergency Service’s postcode checker. Even an inner city electorate like Brisbane has bushland that is vulnerable to bushfires — especially if you live next to the parks along Breakfast Creek and Kedron Brook. If you can, prepare by tidying your backyard and gutters to remove excess foliage or undergrowth.
Avoid outdoor physical activities like running or cycling. Bushfires come with smoke and heat, which makes strenuous physical activity more difficult and dangerous. Working out also lets more fine smoke particulates deeper into your lungs.
Switch air conditioners to recycle to make sure smoke doesn’t get blown into your home or car.
Wear a P2 mask when outside. In bushfire conditions, surgical or cloth facemasks won’t filter smoke or protect you against fine particles. Instead you’ll need a P2 mask, which are available from most hardware stores. Read more about using a mask during smoke events here.

Heatwaves

With the effects of climate change getting worse, meteorologists are saying it's likely we’ll have hotter and hotter summers, putting us at risk of extreme heat events.

We need to take heatwaves seriously. Heatwaves pose the biggest threat of any natural disaster in Australia, so it's really important to ensure that you are prepared.

The most important thing is to stay cool and hydrated, especially at night and when you are sleeping.

Here are some things you can do to help prepare for a heatwave:

Check in on neighbours or family members and make sure you swap current contact details. Older people, disabled people or people living alone, are all more vulnerable to the impacts of heatwaves — and it's up to all of us to make sure everyone in our community stays safe.
Find somewhere cool to rest like a local library or shopping centre. With the cost of living skyrocketing, it's not affordable to run air conditioning during the hottest parts of the day. Libraries and university campuses are great places to rest for free, while cinemas, shopping centres and public pools can be cost effective options too. If you live near Albion, feel free to drop into my office for a rest and a cuppa.
Ventilate your house by having a fan going to move air around or opening windows where the sun isn’t shining directly inside. If you have an air conditioner on, you don’t want to open your windows though. You should also close the blinds or curtains on the windows facing the sun.
Stay hydrated. You need to drink at least two litres of water a day — that’s eight cups of water — even when you don’t feel thirsty. Drinking coffee or alcohol can dehydrate you so make sure you drink plain water as well.

Join our emergency response volunteers

During any emergency, we’re strongest together. We need to organise and prepare to help everyone in our community during a natural disaster. Having a team of volunteers willing to help out will make all the difference when the time comes.

Sign up to my North Brisbane emergency response team to help your neighbours and community during an emergency — and in the long and difficult clean up.

Whether it’s delivering food, filling sandbags or sweeping out flood mud, our emergency response team is there to help.