A major supermarket chain has urged customers not to panic buy in the face of Cyclone Alfred, while the region’s electricity provider has warned of potentially long outages.
Grocery giants have sent extra supplies to stores around the Sunshine Coast, ahead of the system’s expected arrival later this week.
A Woolworths spokesperson said more goods were enroute from Brisbane, but urged people not to panic buy.
“As customers prepare for the cyclone, we ask them to be mindful of others in the community and buy only what they need,” they said.
No purchase limits have been put in place but Woolworths is monitoring supply and demand levels.
But grocery stores around the region were inundated by customers on Tuesday, and many shelves were emptied by night.
Fruit, vegetables, bread and long-life milk were among the items snapped up.
A Coles spokesperson said staff members were working to ensure aisles were well stocked.
“We have extra deliveries on the roads, with a focus on boosting our supply of meat, milk, bread, water, canned goods, baby formula and toilet paper,” they said.
“This preparation began last week and will continue this week.”
University of Southern Queensland Professor Catherine Prentice said there was a difference between customers shopping to be prepared and panic buying.
“The former is more rational and planned while the latter is irrational, most driven by external factors such as social media, government preventive measures, peer influence retailer interventions and internal factors such as FOMO (fear of missing out) personality,” she said.
Prof Prentice said there were significant lessons from COVID-19.
“It is good to be prepared but be reasonable with stockpiling to avoid waste. Do your own research (and) endeavour to be immune from external influence, which can be inflated and untrue,” she said.
Meanwhile, Energy Queensland general manager field delivery South-East Queensland Kev Lavender said there could be significant service issues.
“People should prepare for the likelihood of extended power outages if Tropical Cyclone Alfred makes landfall,” he said.
“Cyclonic winds and flooding have the potential to cause widespread damage to the power network. Our crews can be delayed as those gale-force winds hang around and flooding cuts off access to sites.”
He said Energex had prepared for the cyclone since last week.
“We are making sure we have all available crews, vehicles, equipment and aircraft on deck, and we have already deployed generators at strategic locations. We are also pre-positioning crews and equipment from regional Queensland to support our crews in SEQ.”
He said power outages could be extensive and long-lasting “depending upon the cyclone’s intensity, impact location, damage sustained to the network and access for teams to respond”.
He said people should steer clear of fallen power wires and call 000, and report damaged equipment via 136 262.
Mr Lavender said people who rely on electric medical equipment or temperature-controlled medication need a Plan B, “whether that’s a generator, identifying people you can stay with, or checking with your local hospital”.
Telecommunications groups were also preparing for the cyclone.
Telstra regional general manager May Boisen said the company was “as ready as we can be”.
“Our network sites have backup systems, which can continue to keep services running for as long as possible if the power goes out,” she said.
“We have teams on the ground across the region, ready to go when it’s safe to do so and bring any disrupted services back online as quickly as possible.
“We are also assessing at-risk areas right now, as well as moving temporary power generators into staging locations where they’re ready to be deployed quickly.”
A Unitywater spokesperson said the region’s water service was ready to respond to severe weather.
“This includes rostering extra crew members to prepare for any potential interruptions or repairs to the network, fuelling and checking essential equipment and making sure the reservoir levels are high,” they said.
“Our control room operators are also monitoring our network to keep an eye on the hundreds of pump stations, thousands of kilometres of pipes and our 17 wastewater treatment plants.”
The spokesperson said locals could take steps to be prepared.
“Your house has an overflow relief gully that is designed to prevent your house flooding with sewage,” they said.
“Take simple steps to make sure it’s ready for heavy rain, including making sure it’s not covered or blocked.
“If you spot a water leak or wastewater overflow, avoid contact with the sewage or dirty water and call Unitywater at any time of the day or night on 1300 086 489.
“As power outages can also impact your water supply, set aside 10 litres of water per person for three days’ worth of washing, bathing and drinking, in case you lose water during this weather event.”
A Department of Education spokesperson said students’ families would be updated.
“The safety of our students and staff is paramount and the government will continue to provide updates for our school communities,” they said.
“The most up-to-date information about the status of schools during weather events is available at closures.qld.edu.au and individual schools will continue to keep staff and families informed.”
A Department of Transport and Main Roads spokesperson warned drivers about wet roads.
“Road users are also being reminded that if ‘it’s flooded, forget it’, as the weather system brings a risk of heavy rain and potential flooding, and to please obey any road signs that have been deployed,” they said.
“Should conditions worsen, motorists will be advised to avoid travel where possible.”
“As conditions continue to change across impacted regions, road users should visit QLDTraffic for information regarding conditions, closures and traffic alerts.”
Translink said impacts to public transport services would be provided as soon as any impacts arise. Customers can stay informed via the the Translink app.
Sunshine Coast Airport general manager operations Kate McCreery-Carr said representatives were liaising with the local disaster management group and emergency services “as the situation continues to develop”.
“The airport is operating as normal however passengers are advised to stay up to date with the latest information from both their airline and airport over the coming days,” she said.
“We will continue to provide airport updates via social media and through our website as the situation continues to develop.”
Queensland Rail head of SEQ Neil Backer said customers crews were working to prepare and protect the rail network.
“We have strategically positioned resources like ballast, flood rock, sleepers and rail stockpiles and we are actively checking power generators, safely stabling trains at higher grounds and securing boom gates across the network,” he said.
For more information see getready.qld.gov.au, disaster.sunshinecoast.qld.gov.au and disaster.noosa.qld.gov.au.
