IGEM Report 1: 2017-18 - THE CYCLONE DEBBIE REVIEW

Inspector-General Emergency Management

THE THREE CONCURRENT EVENTS North Queensland – cyclone and flooding As Debbie approached, councils alerted their communities through door-knocks, radio, website, and social media. The Townsville Local Disaster Management Group (Townsville group) convened on Friday 24 March. Work continued into Sunday 26 March to evaluate the chances of the various storm surge possibilities and plan evacuations accordingly. Directed evacuation for parts of Townsville’s red evacuation zone was issued on Sunday night to start at 6.00am the next day. People in this area were told to seek shelter with friends and family in a safer location. During the morning of 27 March, the cyclone’s predicted tracks were more southerly, and by 11.00am Townsville was clear. The Burdekin local group similarly met on 24 March and started early messaging. It planned for three options, a crossing to the north, to the south or a direct impact. A directed evacuation of some beach locations followed. On Monday 27 March, after a state decision, buses were provided for a voluntary evacuation of Ayr and Home Hill to Cairns. Despite early cyclone forecast tracks that put Whitsunday outside the risk zone, preparation by the local group again started on 24 March. Messaging complemented new easier-to-understand storm tide zones that had been publicised during pre-season campaigns. Cyclone shelters were well stocked and readied, and the movement of tourists away from the area began, although many remained until after the cyclone passed. Debbie intensified to a category 4 severe tropical cyclone off the coast of the Whitsunday Islands on Monday 27 March. On Tuesday it passed over them, bringing dangerous and destructive winds. At 12.40pm it reached the mainland, still at category 4. The eye crossed directly over Airlie Beach before moving across Proserpine as a category 3 cyclone. The system continued further inland, reaching Collinsville at category 2, and finally dissipated to a tropical low south west of Collinsville in the early hours of Wednesday 29 March. Damage in Proserpine Bowen, Airlie Beach and in the Whitsunday Islands was significant.

Thunderstorms followed, hampering assessment and relief. Evacuation of tourists from resort islands restarted on 30 March. Transition to recovery followed swiftly on 3 April. Mackay was initially well south of the predicted track. Nonetheless, the Mackay local group started messaging on Saturday 25 March. Storm tide predictions for Mackay followed on 27 March. It advised the most vulnerable areas north of Mackay to evacuate. The District Disaster Coordinator (DDC) later directed the evacuation from similar areas in Mackay. Later thunderstorms exacerbated widespread rainfall totals of 250-700mm in 48 hours in the Pioneer River catchment. Isaac Regional Council also experienced the effects of dangerous winds, high intensity rainfall and rapid onset flooding. Properties became isolated. The weather disrupted supply and product movement. The local group’s planning with mining companies helped. Its analysis of lessons and action plan will help mitigate future events. For all managing the immediate response in the impact area, the slowness of Debbie to pass resulted in considerable fatigue. South East Queensland – rapid-onset flooding By Tuesday 28 March, as the cyclone impacted North Queensland, southern councils began their preparations. On the morning of Thursday 30 March, Debbie was tracking south east of Emerald and projected to reach the south east corner of Queensland by Thursday afternoon. Expectations of what this meant, though, differed from local group to local group. The worsening weather resulted in the decision, early on Thursday 30 March, to close schools. In South East Queensland most rain fell between the morning of Thursday 30 March to midday Friday 31 March. By early Thursday evening, flash flooding occurred on the Gold Coast, isolating areas in the hinterland. The rain caused unprecedented demands on the QLDTraffic website. By late evening on Thursday 30 March, increased-severity flood warnings in the Albert and Logan rivers were issued for the Redland, Gold Coast, Scenic Rim and Logan councils.

By late Friday 31 March Debbie was offshore and affecting northern New South Wales. It had caused major flood levels within the Albert and Logan catchments. Seventy-six properties were deemed un- inhabitable. By 8 April ongoing operations had transitioned to recovery and all local groups and district groups in the South East had stood down. Rockhampton – slow-onset flooding Central Queensland is strongly influenced by the Fitzroy River basin. On Wednesday 29 March, as Debbie moved south west of Collinsville, an Emergency Alert (EA) message, issued by Central Highlands Regional Council, warned of potential flash flooding. On Friday 31 March, the Rockhampton local group stood up to respond to the recent rain and began preparations for the town’s third major flood in six years. Two sets of EA messages were sent on behalf of the Rockhampton Regional Council. The first, issued on Sunday 2 April, included some residents in Livingstone, causing confusion there. The second was more targeted to addresses likely to be affected by the flood. Previous floods had led to a number of mitigation projects being jointly funded by Rockhampton Regional Council and the Queensland and Commonwealth governments. These mitigation measures worked. The Yeppen overpass, constructed after the 2011 floods, prevented Rockhampton’s isolation. Evacuation centres in Rockhampton and Livingstone were prepared; although Rockhampton’s received few people. The Rockhampton local group concluded that the town was the most prepared it had ever been and that excellent support had been provided by the state. State-level operations Preparation

By March 2017, at a state level, much work had been done to prepare for disaster events such as Debbie. Improvements to the State Disaster Coordination Centre (SDCC or the Centre) had resulted in sound procedures, good – though not perfect – technical systems, and people well prepared to deal with an event.

10

The Cyclone Debbie Review

Lessons for delivering value and confidence through trust and empowerment