Mayor commends community response to Alfred

Mayor Frank Wilkie has commended the efforts of residents, community groups, Council staff and partner agencies in preparing for the potential impacts of Tropical Cyclone Alfred. 

Tewantin-Noosa Lions Club members serve up food.

Cr Wilkie said the shire was lucky to avoid the damage experienced in other shires. 

“As of Tuesday, we’ve been extremely fortunate and our community has done a fantastic job in being well-informed and prepared,” Cr Wilkie said.

“Our thoughts are with those residents in the Sunshine Coast hinterland, Moreton Bay and south-east Queensland who face many weeks of clean up.

“For us, it was a very valuable exercise and impressive to see the community respond by taking precautions”.

Cr Wilkie said the Local Disaster Management Group (LDMG) was prepared and learned much from the exercise.

“It was highly reassuring to watch our multi-agency partners as they worked together to support our community.

“This cyclone tested our processes in the newly built Local Disaster Coordination Centre and was a good opportunity for the three levels of government to coordinate resources plus communications to, and from, the community.”

In October 2024, Cr Wilkie stood with Sunshine Coast Mayor Rosanna Natoli to jointly launch Get Ready week. Five months later, both councils worked together to respond to TC Alfred. 

“As the newly appointed LDMG chair, I can say the cooperation, support and effort between all agencies was extremely professional,” Cr Wilkie said.

“That outward-facing, community focus was reflected through three levels of government via daily meetings with the District Disaster and Queensland Disaster Management Groups.

“We’re grateful to those in the community who were out shoveling sand into sandbags, the welfare agencies who helped the vulnerable and our Council crews that continually delivered sand and removed potential debris in the lead up to the event.” 

Council crews and the State Emergency Service distributed about 500 tonnes of sand and then some headed north to assist in Hervey Bay.

“The Tewantin-Noosa Lions Club members responded immediately to serve food for the Refuge Evacuation Centre at the Noosa Leisure Centre.

“We’re grateful to our staff for operating the facility and Queensland Police and Queensland Ambulance officers for supporting them.”

Council’s waste contractor Cleanaway serviced commercial businesses over the weekend to maintain their operations and manage waste volumes.

“They also secured additional drivers and trucks for catch-up bin collections from Monday 10 March, which was a great result for our community and much appreciated. They’ve certainly gone over and above in difficult circumstances.”