Introduction

At 5:45 pm on Wednesday, December 13, Tropical Cyclone Jasper crossed the Far North Queensland coast between Cooktown and Port Douglas. It was a Category 2 cyclone but still managed to dump 500 mm of rain in some areas. It quickly downgraded to a tropical low, but heavy rain continued to fall on the impacted communities for some days as it was a slow-moving storm front. 

This resulted in flooding, reaching levels that, in many places, had not been seen in living memory. People had to be rescued from the roof of the hospital in Wujal Wujal, Cairns northern beaches and townships were isolated from the city, Cairns airport was closed, and a crocodile was removed from a creek in the centre of the township of Ingham. Communities were evacuated.

This has been a large-scale and largely unexpected natural disaster. 

Locals to the Rescue, Again 

As often happens in disaster events, the locals first came to the aid of people in these communities. This happens in many disasters, possibly due to locals having greater knowledge of the area and, at times, taking risks that the official services would be reluctant to take. It also has to do with us humans as a species. We are hard-wired to care for each other when there are external threats, and our stress response of “fight or flight” will be present.

These factors saw one person making numerous trips by jet ski into one of the northern beaches villages of Cairns to rescue people, a local making several trips by helicopter to the roof of the Lion’s Den Hotel to rescue people and people taking their fishing “tinnies” out into flooded water to save people isolated, some even rescued from trees. At least one local Cairns restaurant has also provided free pre-packaged food to those impacted by the event. 

It saw people acting out of concern for others, for their neighbours and doing what they could to help.

Rebuilding and Healing

For almost 5 days, the rain was torrential but gradually subsided. This provided an opportunity to assess damage and commence the immense task of cleanup, rebuilding and healing.

Once again, locals pitched in to help one another. People returning to their homes after a flood are immediately confronted by the scale of damage and loss. Once the water recedes, there is mud everywhere. While thankful they were rescued, they return to a scene of devastation. They have lost precious items and family photos; the storm has violated their home. It is a depressing situation. Fortunately, others will often pitch in and help with the cleanup. Others return to find their homes in such a state that the property will not be salvageable. Those fortunate enough to have adequate insurance cover will make claims. Those unable to afford sufficient insurance will turn to the government and other sources for support. In both these situations, it may be a long wait before people can safely return to their properties and resume their lives there. 

Events like this are traumatic and impact not just one or two people but the whole community. No one escapes the scarring from a disaster of this size. In a short time, the media will shift from this disaster to other matters. The plight of people caught up in the disaster will likely be forgotten by those not in the disaster zone. But those impacted will live with the trauma every day until healing has taken place. Cleaning and rebuilding their property is a first step, but this can take a lengthy period of time.

Communities will be changed. Some will leave and start again elsewhere rather than rebuild where there was so much loss. 

It is not only the physical that will need rebuilding. The community will need healing and rebuilding.

Rebuilding the Physical Infrastructure

As soon as it is safe enough, work will commence on rebuilding the physical infrastructure. This is the easy part of rebuilding a community.

Repairs to utilities such as electricity, water and sewage systems will be a priority. Work will also be started on clearing roads damaged by landslides, mud and debris. Some roads will remain closed until essential repairs are completed, but these will be up and running as soon as possible. These repairs open necessary transport networks and make isolated communities accessible to the outside world again. 

As much as this physical repair is essential, it is only one aspect of rebuilding that needs to be considered. It would be so simple to think that because the roads and utilities are back online and towns and villages are no longer cut off, rebuilding is completed, but this is only the starting point. The actual rebuilding is the rebuilding of social connection. The Community.

Rebuilding Community

In reality, this is the most essential part of the rebuilding process. Our focus should be establishing social connections and building strong and resilient communities. Without this building, the physical infrastructure is a meaningless task.

It is well-accepted that a connected community where people know their neighbours is one where people care for each other. It is a resilient community that can better withstand disaster and change than other communities that could be more socially connected.  

Disaster Management circles have a growing consensus on the importance of building connected and strong communities between disasters. Many local government authorities employ Disaster Resilience officers just for this purpose. However, more needs to be done following such a significant event like Tropical Cyclone Jasper. Herein lies a real problem for the level of government responsible for much of Disaster Management. Local government is the level of government closest to the community and best positioned to build connected communities, but it is often not prepared to do so. This hasn’t always been the case.

In previous decades most councils employed skilled Community Development Officers to provide community services for the local community. These officers were often the eyes and ears of the council in the community. They could inform the council what is happening in local communities and how best the council could work with that community. However, many councils have moved away from viewing their role as providers of services and resources to support the community. There has been a move to corporatise operations, and the council is often regarded more through a business lens than a lens of providing an essential role in servicing the community. This is a shift based on neo-liberal principles and often results in many of the “softer” services, such as community development, being reduced. This is no more obvious than in Queensland. Many other Australian states have legislated the necessity of local government to provide planning for the community. In Victoria, Health and Wellbeing Plans need to be prepared. These are plans aimed at the community’s wellbeing and reported against by most council operations. In NSW, there is an integrated Planning and Reporting structure with the requirement for a Community Strategic Plan. Again, this is a plan reported against across council operations. No such mechanism exists in Queensland, resulting in many councils no longer having community development plans and many downsizing and changing the focus of community service units.

Conclusion

Councils impacted by tropical cyclones, such as Cyclone Jasper, must consider how they will rebuild affected communities. Contemporary Disaster Management approaches view the building of communities between disasters as essential. Communities where there has been a disaster are traumatised. They will often suffer from a collective trauma where healing and rebuilding need to occur so they are better placed to face the next disaster. This will require trained and skilled Community Development workers who can work alongside community members to support them in rebuilding their community. They will have a role in working to establish grassroots and community-led responses to build community. It is in the community where we heal best. Establishing a connected community is essential in our healing and future preparation. This produces a resilient community better equipped to face the next disaster…and there will be one.