RQ Alfred Safety Bulletin #2

Tropical Cyclone Alfred has made its u-turn and is now heading towards the Southeast Queensland coast. According to the Bureau of Meteorology (BOM), “Alfred is a category 2 cyclone and is forecast to maintain this intensity as it approaches the southeast Queensland coast on Thursday. Alfred is expected to cross the coast early Friday morning, most likely between Maroochydore and Coolangatta.”

There are still multiple Queensland warnings current from the BOM including cyclone, marine wind, flood, coastal hazard, and heatwave warnings. Please ensure that you don’t get caught out when severe weather hits - now is the time to prepare your home and family. Three steps to get ready:

🔹 Understand your risk – Think about how bad weather could impact your home, work, and daily life.

🔹 Prepare an emergency plan – Know what to do and where to go when the weather turns.

🔹 Pack an emergency kit – Include essentials to last several days without needing to go to the shops.

Seqwater has advised this morning that due to the forecast rainfall associated with Tropical Cyclone Alfred, flood releases are likely in the next 2 days from Somerset Dam and Wivenhoe Dam. These releases will consider downstream flows in accordance with the Manual of Operational Procedures for Flood Mitigation for Somerset Dam and Wivenhoe Dam. The Wivenhoe Dam flood storage compartment is at 100% of its capacity. As we are all aware, with significant rain comes higher tides and river levels with flooding potential, faster flowing water, debris, and an increased risk of damage to property and the environment.

Rowing Queensland hopes that by now you have made all efforts to prepare your homes and boatsheds. One recommendation from our rowing friends in Townsville who are more familiar with cyclones than us is that our roller doors are not cyclone rated and make get damaged. To prevent boats becoming projectiles within your shed, tie them down to the boat racking. For more tips on how to prepare your homes, offices and sheds, please head to the Governments Get Ready Queensland website.

Rowing Queensland is aware that our phone system is not working. Should you need anything whilst we work to get this fixed, please use our email addresses. If your matter is urgent, please use our mobiles.

Should you have any questions regarding the insurances offered to our member clubs and individual participants under the National Insurance Scheme, please visit the V-Insurance RQ page. If as a result of TC Alfred, you are wishing to make a claim under the insurances, the first step is to submit an incident report through the Rowing Queensland website here.

Please make sure that you are staying safe, up to date and alert during this significant weather event. The best places to get the most up to date information are:

1. The Bureau of Meteorology website
2. The Maritime Safety Queensland website and Dashboard
3. The Queensland Governments traffic and road conditions website
4. Facebook pages of Queensland Government, the Department of Transport and Main Roads, Queensland Police, the Queensland Fire Department, and Maritime Safety Queensland

Stay safe!

The RQ team