$1.2 billion damage bill revealed for ex-Tropical Cyclone Alfred

Communities along Australia’s east coast are continuing clean-up efforts in the wake of ex-Tropical Cyclone Alfred, as the true financial extent of the weather event materialises.

Ten days on from the ex-Tropical Cyclone making landfall across parts of south-east Queensland and north-east New South Wales, power has now been restored to the bulk of homes and businesses.

Treasury has put the cost of ex-Tropical Cyclone Alfred at $1.2 billion, with the weather event likely to place new pressure on inflation.

"I expect that these costs and these new provisions will be in the order of at least $1.2 billion, a substantial amount of money and that means a big new pressure on the budget," said Treasurer Jim Chalmers ahead of his address to the Queensland Press Club on Tuesday.

"We don't yet know the precise cost to our budget, but again it will be significant.”

In Queensland, power has now been restored to more than 500,000 homes and businesses, according to power provider Energex – the largest number of properties ever affected by a natural disaster in the state’s history.

Energy Queensland chief executive Peter Scott praised the efforts of field crews and support staff.

“Energex and Ergon Network teams collectively put in more than 300,000 hours of work to inspect 9000 kilometres of network, restring more than 175 kilometres of powerlines, and manage the operations and logistics, and significant level of support required to sustain this massive restoration effort,” he said.

“Every single one of our support staff and field crews has done us proud, with many leaving family behind – sometimes without power themselves – to complete work in some of the harshest conditions imaginable while keeping safety their highest priority.”

Meanwhile in New South Wales, power has now been restored to all but a few homes in the north of the state as the State Emergency Service formally hands over to the Reconstruction Authority to begin the ‘recovery’ phase of the operation.

“We’re working towards recovery, moving from the response phase to the recovery phase,” an SES spokesperson told the NRMA.

All told, the SES has completed more than 2500 damage assessments and covered more than 7500 incidents and 14,000 calls.

According to Essential Energy, the bulk of power outages in NSW have now been rectified.

Both the Tweed and Lismore Councils are offering residents free waste drop-off services over the coming days as residents recover from the effects of ex-Tropical Cyclone Alfred.

Residents can dispose of general waste from flood-affected properties as well as green waste resulting from storm damage at no cost. This service is expected to remain available until Sunday, 23 March 2025,” said the Lismore City Council in a statement.

Like Lismore, the Tweed Council is offering residents a free tip drop-off service between Saturday March 15 and Sunday March 23.

Additionally, the Tweed Council is going a step further by offering residents a free waste collection service from early this week (Monday March 17).

“Strong winds and heavy rain from Ex-Cyclone Alfred have caused extensive damage across the Tweed and we have a huge task ahead as we clean up the cyclone damage, particularly trees and green debris,” said Tweed Council director of Sustainable Communities and Environment, Naomi Searle.

“We're working closely with the SES and emergency service agencies to clear trees from public and private property as safely and as quickly as possible.

“We understand it has been a difficult few days with power outages, water supply challenges and lack of telecommunication and internet access for many. Ex-Cyclone Alfred has left extensive damage to our beaches, parks and open spaces, water and wastewater network, roads and other community assets

“Our priority is to support our community, so we made the call to focus on a shirewide residential clean up service where we come to you and save you the trip to the tip.”

The Reconstruction Authority is continuing their recovery work in Northern New South Wales, with assistance from the likes of the NRMA.

The NRMA has thrown its support behind relief efforts, supplying 15 utes to the SES from its SIXT fleet, as well as offering accommodation to the Reconstruction Authority through its NRMA Parks arm.

The NRMA is also encouraging the public to support those affected by the effects of Ex-Tropical Cyclone Alfred by donating what they can through this GIVIT appeal.