While Cyclone Alfred may now be an ex, the break up is going to take a while, with a peak of over 300,000 homes powerless, entire towns flooded and many roads cut off due to heavy rain. From right up in Hervey Bay all the way down to Lismore and the Northern Rivers, thousands of South East Queenslanders and north NSW residents are in need of support—and it's not over yet.
Whether your home or vehicle has been flooded or water damaged, you can’t access your property, or you’re without power or water, here are some resources to access if you’ve been affected by the Cyclone Alfred floods. And if you haven't been affected, we've got resources on how you can help and support your community.
How You Can Get Help
Where To Get Up To Date Information
As a severe weather event, particularly one that is not a common threat for South East Queensland, there has been an inundation of information over recent days. We know it can be quite overwhelming (we’re definitely overwhelmed), so listed below are the links to useful and reliable resources to check out.
- Local emergency alert pages for flood maps and current flood warnings as well as places of refuge, road closures and power outages:
- BOM Queensland Warnings: Up to date information on new flood warnings
- QLD Traffic: Check for road closures
- Energex Outage Finder: Outage finder map and information about your power supply
- Sign up for Brisbane weather alerts and Gold Coast weather alerts for live major updates
- ABC Live Radio: The ABC is providing live online updates from their website which includes updates from a range of sources. ABC Emergency will also broadcast regular warnings on ABC Brisbane, you can find the frequencies below.
- Brisbane: 612AM
- Gold Coast: 91.7FM
- Sunshine Coast: 90.3FM, 95.3FM or 1566AM
- Wide Bay: 855AM, 100.1FM, 88.3FM
- NSW North Coast Richmond and Tweed: 94.5 FM
- Murwillumbah: 720 AM
- Grafton: 738 AM
Where To Go For Help
Even if you are above the floodwaters, it is always useful to have the following list of emergency resources. As always, if you need emergency life threatening services, the advice is to call 000.
- State Emergency Service (SES) for non-life threatening flood and storm emergency assistance: 132 500. You can also download the SES Assistance QLD app.
- Health Contact Centre: 13HEALTH (13 43 25 84)
- Homeless Hotline: 1800 474 753 24
- Community Recovery Hotline (available 24/7): 1800 173 349
- Police Assistance Hotline (PAL): 13 14 44
- Electrical safety information
Where To Get Financial Support
The government has announced a Disaster Recovery Allowance, which offers up to 13 weeks of income support to people working in impacted areas. You can claim from 2pm on Tuesday 11 March. On top of the one-off payment, you can also access Emergency Hardship Assistance, Essential Services Hardship Assistance, Essential Household Contents grants, Structural Assistance grants and Essential Services Safety and Reconnection grants—you can read more about eligibility and claiming those here.
Keep an eye on the Tropical Cyclone Alfred Disaster Page or give the hotline a call on 1800 173 349 for ongoing information on grants and help with applying.
Where To Find Power Or Emergency Accomodation
In the case that you urgently need somewhere to go due to your home being inaccessible, or you need to charge up your devices:
- Brisbane City Council is operating evacuation centres in Chermside, Seventeen Mile Rocks and Chandler
- Logan City Council has opened evacuation Centres in Crestmead, Bethania, Jimboomba and Logan Village
- City of Gold Coast has relief centres open in Runaway Bay, Burleigh Waters, Pimpama and Nerang.
- On the Sunshine Coast, the Nambour Showgrounds have been opened as a place of refuge
- In Ipswich, the Ipswich Showgrounds, Shiloh Church in Goodna and Rosewood State High School have been opened as places of refuge for residents impacted by flooding
- While there's no official places of refuge, the Scenic Rim community has activated spaces at Tamborine Memorial Hall, Presbytarian Church on Tamborine Mountain and Providence Hall in Beechmont
- Lockyer Valley has activated places of shelter at Gatton Shire Hall, Laidley State High School, Grantham Butter Factory and Forest Hill School of Arts
You can also check your local council pages, listed earlier, for services such as libraries and community halls that may be open.
For Mental Health Support
If your home and/or business has been impacted, you might also be under a heavy emotional load. Some useful mental health resources include Lifeline, Beyond Blue (which both offer 24/7 support) and Headspace.
For some, the effects of this disaster won’t be over in a couple of weeks, or even months, so it’s important to be prepared for the toll the ongoing stress of recovery can take—keep 1300 MH CALL (1300 642 255) in mind, as they can point you in the right direction to seeking professional help.
How You Can Help If You're Safe And Unaffected
Volunteer For Flood Clean-Up And Support
You can sign up via Volunteering Queensland to provide assistance across the Brisbane, Ipswich, Logan and Gold Coast City Councils, and they’ll match your available skills and capabilities with the areas that need you. If you’re keen to volunteer in your local area, check with your councillor’s office as many are coordinating locals' requests for, and offers of, assistance.
Another hands-on way to offer immediate help is to contact the RSPCA and the Animal Welfare League QLD if you’re able to foster an animal—their resources are extremely stretched following natural disasters, and some of their centres have been affected too.
Donate Goods And Money
The government’s official partner for donations is Givit, which is a smarter way to donate thanks to their system of matching specific requests and monetary donations with individual and corporate donors. Givit will be distributing across flood-affected areas in Queensland and New South Wales.
As well as the big ones like the Australian Red Cross Society, Lifeline Queensland and the SES, your local charity shops can also divert goods (preferably new or near-new) to those in need, and local animal shelters or hospitals typically get overwhelmed following natural disasters.
Support Your Local Hospo Scene
Much of the South-East Queensland and Northern Rivers hospitality scene has been drastically impacted by Cyclone Alfred, with many businesses experiencing flooding, power loss, stock loss and multiple days of lost income due to closure. Your local hospo scene needs your help now more than ever—especially the little guys. Remember, it doesn't have to be big; everything from a glass of wine to a coffee from your local coffee shop helps get them back up and running.
Reach Out
Community and personal connections are so important at a time like this, so be sure to keep the door open for those who have been affected, or elderly or vulnerable residents who might not be able to access their usual support network.
This could be as simple as sending a message to someone you know who’s been affected, or just lending an ear if they need to talk about how they’re feeling. Just let them guide you, and be receptive to doing as little or as much as affected individuals, families and businesses need.
Suburban Facebook groups are also a good way to connect with those in need directly, so you could offer your outlets for people to charge devices, to drop off groceries, do loads of washing, or deliver hot meals.
Image credit: Emily Major (Unsplash)