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

Inspector-General Emergency Management

The worsening weather resulted in the decision, early on Thursday 30 March to close schools. At 7.32am the Department of Education and Training tweeted that “all state schools in Metropolitan, North Coast and South East Regions are closed.” Around 9.30am a series of EAs carried the same advice about all schools from Agnes Waters to the New South Wales border, and west to Nanango. This decision by the Queensland Government to close schools and later to advise businesses “to think about closing after midday” was identified by many agencies as a significant factor in reducing risk and managing people on the roads. It provided challenges to others, draining organisations of staff as they prepared for the event, and reducing their ability to get provisions from usual suppliers. While there was some confusion around the timing of the message and the breadth of schools included, the decision also signalled to the community that this was a significant weather event. Schools south of the Sunshine Coast remained closed on Friday 31 March.

By 3.00pm on Thursday 30 March the low tracked over the Fraser and Sunshine Coasts, pushing continuous heavy rainfall and strong winds from Gympie through to Noosa, causing fallen trees and some loss of power. Power providers responded quickly, with electricity restored to most properties within three days. Messaging by Wide Bay Water for properties downstream of Lenthall Dam was executed seamlessly, strengthened by lessons learnt from a recent exercise on the effectiveness of their warning systems. Media campaigns using social media and radio were considered an effective means of communicating with the public. The value of community engagement was demonstrated in the Scenic Rim where a direct appeal by the Mayor to conserve water saw an immediate drop in water usage. In 62 Queensland locations the rainfall records for March were broken. 49 In South East Queensland the majority of rain from Debbie fell in a 36 hour period from the morning Thursday 30 March to midday Friday 31 March. 50 51 The heaviest rain occurred on Thursday night, resulting in the Bureau issuing 26 flood warnings for South East Queensland between 4.00pm Thursday 30 March and 9.00am Friday 31 March. 52

The three concurrent events

Date

South East Queensland

22 March Tropical low identified

4.51am • BoM predicts crossing coast south of Townsville as category 4 on 28 March 10.00am • Low named as TC Debbie SDCC stood up

25 March

26 March 5.22pm • BoM issued storm tide warnings

QRA stood up Between 5.00pm–12 midnight • TC intensified to category 4 off Whitsundays

27 March

28 March Morning (approx. 10.30am) • TC crossed over Whitsunday islands 12.40pm • TC Debbie made landfall Airlie Beach as a category 4 2.00pm • State Recovery Coordinator appointed 1.00pm • TC crossed over Proserpine as a category 3 10.00pm • TC crossed over Collinsville as a category 2 29 March Early hours • System dissipated to a tropical low south west of Collinsville

6.00am • All district groups from Brisbane to Bundaberg on alert 7.32am • DET tweeted school closures of Metro, North Coast and SE regions 8.33am • Advice to departments to enact Business Continuity Plans 9.30am • EAs advising school closures from Agnes Waters to NSW border and west to Nanango commence Later • Queensland Government advises businesses to consider closing after midday Afternoon • All districts and local groups in the SE activated From 4pm • 26 Flood warnings issued across the SE before 9am / 31 March 12 local groups, and three district groups at stand up Evening • Flash flooding across Gold Coast (hinterland isolated) Late evening • BoM issues flood warnings for Albert and Logan Rivers rapid rises and major flooding for Redlands, Gold Coast, Scenic Rim and Logan 11.40pm • BoM issues major flood warning for Albert river and broadcasts SEWS for Logan River Beaudesert

30 March

Springbrook’s Pine Creek Road, Queensland. Photo courtesy of ABC News – supplied: Kira Lowe

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