15 Mar 2025 CYCLONE ALFRED
The cyclone hovered out at sea and made a slow progress to the coast, which it crossed as a category one system just north of Brisbane. The delay allowed people more time to prepare. I bought two lights and a box of six candles at the hardware store. One of the lights has a magnet. I also bought some tins of food at the supermarket behind my unit block. The wind and rain picked up on the 5th, but neither had the intensity of any of the previous tropical lows or ex-cyclones. I had fish and a steak in the fridge. As long as I had power, I opted to have lunch rather than dinner and cooked the fish on the sixth. The wind and rain were more constant, but nowhere near cyclonic. On the seventh I had steak for lunch and did a complete washing up, relieved that we still had power. Just as well that I did, because at 3.15 pm the outage began.
The cyclone was now close to crossing the coast and the weather deteriorated accordingly. On the 8th the rain was constant and lashed by increasingly ferocious wind. I made good use of my gas camping stove, boiling water for my breakfast tea as long as the milk lasted and heating water for washing my hands, shaving and so forth. I could flush the toilet because we have a standpipe served by the rainwater tank in the yard. On most days I carted three buckets of water up the stairs to my top floor flat. I attached the light with the magnet to my washing machine. It gave good, even illumination to the bathroom. The other light had a folding stand and lit up the kitchen and living room far more brightly. However, I sat for hours on end in the light of a single candle and discovered what a uniquely rewarding experience it was. I looked forward to reading for half an hour before my past midnight lights out, because the light with the stand, at half power, was nearly as good as my bedside lamp.
The rainfall for the 24 hours to 9 am on Sunday was 392 mm, according to the mountain paper which was issued on March 20. The rain and wind on Sunday were as fierce, but I have not been able to track down the rainfall total for the 24 hours to 9 am on Monday the tenth. According to the power grid provider, our street was not due to be reconnected until the 16th. I woke to find that one side of a book shelf which is built in under the living room windows, had dropped, and most of the books were affected by wind-blown rain. The shelves are of chipboard which has been flaking for years. But now, whole chunks had come adrift and smothered the books. Removing and relocating the books was a chore, as was getting rid of the chipboard debris. I was organising to replace them later in the year, but the cyclone had brought the matter to a head.
The wind and rain started to abate on Monday. More branches had been broken off from the buckinghamia tree in front of our letterboxes and a large section of a tree in the park had split high up and was touching the ground. I went for a little walk. Half of a neighbour’s tree was leaning at an angle onto his lawn, having just missed the top of the front fence. There were more fallen branches in the park.
I cooked one of the tins of food in the same pan I used to boil water. The milk was still usable, as was the butter for my bread and marmalade. By Tuesday the wind and rain were heading away from the mountain. I caught up with Hugh and Pauline Alexander in Upper Coomera and had a mug of tea and toast and marmalade, as my milk was now off. I also charged my phone at their place. They lost power for two days. I bought some bread and bananas at Woolworths in Oxenford and cooked the other tin of food.
Thereafter, as long as the outage lasted, I determined to have a meal off the mountain, and enjoyed a good lunch, nicely presented, at a Chinese restaurant in Oxenford. In the evening I couldn’t find my glasses, thinking I may have left them at the restaurant and drove down the hill in search of them. I have spare glasses in the car, but am rather attached to my main pair. Of course, I found them when I got back. They were on a side table, but facing the wrong way. I did not attempt to park the car in the garage in the dark and left it outside. However, because it was bin night, I got up early to park the car before the truck arrived, driving around to warm the engine at the ungodly hour, for me, of 6.30. It was a stroke of genius because I drove past the home of a local builder whom I know. He was outside with his vehicle. I pulled up and told him what had happened to the book shelf, wondering whether he could check the damage, as I was shortly about to leave for my annual visit to see Simon and Nicole in Longreach, and feared I might have to stay at home. Tony agreed to call by between 9.30 and 10. He knocked on my door at 9.15 and checked on everything. He will remove and dispose of the shelves and get a joiner to build new ones. He reassured me that I could go to Longreach without risk of further damage occurring and I will contact him once I get back. Imagine trying to grab the attention of any of the local builders in the aftermath of a destructive cyclone.
Thursday’s lunch was an excellent chicken carbonara, accompanied by a glass of beer, at the Oxenford Tavern. When I returned to the mountain after my trips down the hill, I would see if any progress was being made with powerlines that had been broken by falling trees. The main culprit looked much as it did at the beginning of the week. However, another line had been restored and I asked a supervisor if any progress was being made in my neck of the wood. He did not know.
On Friday, just beyond the right turn I took on my way to picking up my new Australian passport at the post office, I saw that the road had been closed to allow the repair of the major line breakage. The post office itself did not have power, but people could collect parcels at the back door. That done, I popped in to see Hugh and Pauline and charged my phone. I invited them to lunch. Pauline was expecting someone, but Hugh joined me. He wanted to go to a grog shop which was next to the Oxenford pub. The food was again really good. Back on the mountain, I checked progress on the major line breakage. The road was now open to traffic. I noticed that the Masala Shanti food truck was parked near its usual spot across the road from the primary school. I ordered a curry and rice for the next day, but at 5.30 instead of my usual 6.15, so that I could put the car in the garage.
I had arranged with Hugh and Pauline to leave some perishable items in their fridge on Saturday, to be picked up once I had power. Of the items I bought, I gave butter for cooking and spreading, milk, and cheese to Hugh. I returned home at about half past three. Just under an hour later power was restored. All the while, I continued to live in the comfort of my own home as it withstood everything that the cyclone threw at it.
PS On my journeys off the mountain during the outage I had expected to see more damage to vegetation. It was only after power had been restored that great piles of branches were assembled at the kerb of many mountain streets and I saw gaps in rainforest patches where the cyclone had uprooted trees.