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

Inspector-General Emergency Management

Foreword

Inspector-General Emergency Management

The impact of Severe Tropical Cyclone Debbie across a large area of Queensland is now well documented and the vast recovery effort underway will continue into the future. Many people, businesses and indeed the environment still have a long road ahead. The Queensland Reconstruction Authority reports that damage to infrastructure and industry in Queensland following Debbie will exceed $1 billion. So far, the damage to agricultural crops is estimated at almost $1 billion and loss of coal exports could exceed $1.5 billion. Queensland’s tourism industry has also been severely impacted and the assessment of this cost is still underway. Within one month of the event, more than 100,000 requests for recovery assistance were received and $25 million in recovery grants issued. More than 2,300 residential properties were damaged, with almost 1,000 of them declared uninhabitable. In addition, airports and sea ports were closed, rail lines were cut and numerous major and local road networks sustained significant damage. More than 30 local government authorities were activated for Natural Disaster Relief and Recovery Arrangements. 1 The State Recovery Plan includes specific recovery plans for eight local governments from the Whitsundays to the Gold Coast. Debbie, while causing widespread damage in multiple locations, resulted in three concurrent events across these council areas. These were: • cyclonic impact and consequential damage including major flooding,

This Office was tasked with examining these three events, not from the perspective of reviewing the performance of any individual agency or any individual disaster management group, but how the disaster management system as a whole responded. Reinforcing the Government’s desire to ensure a robust approach to continuous improvement across the system this Office undertook to work closely with Queensland Fire and Emergency Services, Queensland Police Service and the Local Government Association of Queensland and to attend as many debriefing activities as possible. We undertook this review with the aim of identifying, analysing and fully understanding any issue that arose and to consider improvement strategies for the future. Importantly we also focused on identifying examples of the very good practice that had been evident, celebrating these and encouraging their sharing across the sector to assist others. We actively sought the views of community members in order to validate our collective actions and inform future strategies that could improve the integration of government services and deliver safer and inclusive communities. This review notes impacts, actions and activities for a number of councils and state agencies. These examples have been used to specifically enhance our examination of the disaster management system. We acknowledge that not all communities impacted are specifically mentioned. This in no way diminishes our concern and respect for these communities, or the value and importance of their work and activities.

• rapid-onset flood events in the south eastern corner of the state, and • slow-onset flood events in Central Queensland, particularly Rockhampton.

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The Cyclone Debbie Review

Lessons for delivering value and confidence through trust and empowerment