Susanna Freymark
It’s going to be a long night. It’s already been a long wait for Tropical Cyclone Alfred with the stops and starts and twists and turns of this errant cyclone.
Latest predictions say Alfred will finally arrive on the mainland at about 11am tomorrow, Saturday, March 8.
Today, here at Mallanganee there have been periods of heavy rain, sometimes sideways rain with pelting winds. Then it has been quiet for a time – too quiet.
Water is pouring down the drains in the village and the wetlands is brimming with water and birds.
The mood at the pub was jovial. The wallabies have come closer to the house and even the birds seem to be taking cover nearby.
I’ve spent the day checking BOM maps, tracking Alfred and getting notifications of flood warnings and evacuation orders and writing news stories.
It feels strange – I can see how Alfred is about 85km off the coast now.
I’ve never been close to a cyclone and I can see already how different its weather patterns are. I don’t know what it will be like when it makes land fall, and afterwards when more intense rain is predicted.
Tonight there are some people already in evacuation centres – and with them are the volunteers who have given up their time to help.
So too, the SES members who are out helping others instead of being at home with their families. SES, RFS, VRA Rescue, Fire and Rescue, police have been working for days to keep us safe.
I don’t know how to thank these people – we’d be screwed without them. I’ve seen SES members helping with sandbags and other emergency preparations for days.
The sad news of a man who died in floodwaters today highlights the dangers of what we are going through. The man’s 4WD was washed off a bridge into fast-running water northeast of Dorrigo. He managed to get out of the car and cling to a tree branch until he too was washed away into the river.
It happens and it happens quick.
The safer we keep ourselves the better for these volunteers.
My thoughts are with the people in homes without power. Essential Energy has said it is too unsafe for crews right now so resumption of power could take many days. Long after Alfred has left.
Residents in more than 20 areas in NSW have been told to evacuate. It’s a scary time when you have to leave your home.
The uncertainty of the threat from the cyclone has gone on for days. And that is tough. Coupled with the anxiety from 2002 flood memories, all we can do is bear the storm and lean on each other.
I offered a room in my home to a friend in Woodburn. They didn’t need it as they already had somewhere to go but their message was haunting.
“I’m defeated, I literally have no fight left in me. I’m done, my friend said.
And I felt that. I understand how difficult it must to go through this again.
I’m preparing for the inevitable recovery stories. I hope Alfred loses its puff when it makes land. I hope the amount of rain predicted won’t be as bad as they say. But hope doesn’t mean a thing to a cyclone bearing down on us.
The photos shown here of the quiet and wet streets of Kyogle are still and beautiful, there is a serenity in the empty streets of a country town.
They were taken by Richard Malawkin and his photos catch that sense of waiting.
In the middle of the dark night, when the inevitable winds and rain lash our homes, know you are not alone.
We are in this together and in coming days we will pick each other up in the best way we can.
See you in the morning with more local news about our unwanted visitor.
