24/02/2025
Hello Saltwater Medical community. As concerned and engaged members of our local community, our Director/Co-Owner, Jen, is heavily involved with a local volunteer group called the PPCMB. We are sharing the PPCMB's latest post to our page to raise local awareness about a grave problem that is facing our community - significantly heightened storm surge inundation as a result of the Bribie Island breakthrough in 2022. The PPCMB is sharing an important update this evening about the threat from Tropical Cyclone Alfred for our area. Our communities of Golden Beach and Caloundra are INCREDIBLY VULNERABLE to threats from severe weather events like this ever since the Bribie Breakthrough ripped a hole through the middle of our beautiful barrier island. This breakthrough could and should have been prevented, but calls for a sensible coastal protection system (i.e sea walls to stabilise the bar, along with sand nourishment and protection for the eastern side of northern Bribie) have fallen on deaf ears for decades. We might see the consequences of this inaction play out in the next week if this cyclone does what it has the potential to do - 90 year old residents being rescued from their flooded homes in Golden Beach. Jen is desperately hoping to be wrong! But, if THIS system doesn't destroy our town, one WILL soon enough if our leaders don't take urgent action to protect our community. Watch this space friends. And please like and follow PPCMB. Also - stay tuned for upcoming dates in mid March when the PPCMB will presenting our report to the community. Thanks for taking the time to read! Stay well and prepare for a big blow Caloundra.
Tropical Cyclone Alfred is currently a category 2 storm with a tight spinning core, slowly intensifying and moving at a very slow pace in 30-degree water. This provides the cyclone with a massive energy source. As of this morning, TC Alfred is facing a blocking ridge over New Zealand, which could eventually force it to track southwest towards the Queensland coast later this week. Between this blocking ridge and two other tropical lows/cyclones over Vanuatu and Fiji, they are likely to keep TC Alfred in the perfect environment to intensify at a slow-moving pace over tropical waters off the QLD coast.
IF this system moves south enough, it WILL break through the remaining fragile sections of Bribie Island (south of the 2022 breakthrough), and Golden Beach and Caloundra could be subject to massive storm surge inundation and wave action whipped up by severe winds and heavy rainfall.
Without the protection of our barrier island, our community is in the cross hairs of this threat at any point now thanks to the erosion and destruction of Bribie Island, which our Leaders allowed to happen unchecked on their watch in recent decades.
This problem has been put on the radar of authorities for DECADES.
What will it take for action to be taken? 90-year-olds being rescued from their flooded homes in Golden Beach? This COULD happen in the right circumstances with this weather event within the next week!! We hope we are wrong!
The PPCMB is working around the clock right now to lobby our council and our state government to take the necessary action to protect our community from this threat.
It’s possible to turn back time and reinstate the island - we have the engineering solution. We just need the political will and a bit of investment into our neglected area of the Sunshine Coast.
Our home, Caloundra.
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We need to raise awareness NOW.
