It was apparent on thursday morning that it wasnt going to hit until saturday.
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Oh well. I respect your opinion but I think most people would be okay with how it was handled. Iām sorry it inconvenienced your friends but up until only a few hours ago this was a legitimate Cyclone. Appropriate steps for protection and safety were made.
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It isnt just my friends though is it. Its thousands of people passing through the airport over multiple days.
That costs money.
Itās thousands of children not at school. That impacts learning.
Itās thousands of businesses closed, people not earning income, lost productivity etc. That disrupts the economy.
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Youāre talking as if they knew it would fizzle out and still went ahead with the closures.
They made it clear multiple times that it was an ever changing weather event. How were they to know it would turn out to be just a storm?
Iām sure if they thought it was safe they would have advised the government to return things to normal. Clearly something was happening to make them stick with the plan.
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Iāve just been reading all of this, and all Iām going to say for now is that it was a very difficult situation to predict, even by experts with degrees - it wouldāve been even more of an inconvenience to peope if things were shut down at the last minute, rather than the reasonable day before announcements. And even before the cyclone hit there were still strong winds and rain + power outages.
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Well, iām pretty sure I said very early in the week it would fizzle.
Australian governments are extremely risk averse when it comes to anything like this. We only have to look at covid to see that.
I think some of the decisions made were a little hasty, and they should rightly be challenged for next time.
My apologies. I didnāt realise you were a meteorologist who worked with the BOM.
Iām reading and watching things now saying the weather event hasnāt even happened yet and the heavy rains and wind is due this afternoon and tonight so Iām not sure how you can continuously write this event off as finished and done.
Anyways, everyone has a right to an opinion. We just donāt agree with this particular topic.
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Happy to admit if I turn out to be wrong.
You would rather that governments take risks even if it means more propert damage and deaths?
People say the governments were too cautious with safety precautions during Covid but how many people were you willing to sacrifice? Would it have been alright if ten times more people died during the pandemic to keep businesses running?
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Iām not going to get in to a debate about covid. I was just using it as an example of Australia being perhaps the most risk averse country in the world.
Closing a city 2 days before a storm is another fine example of that.
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It wasnāt just a storm two days ago though. Clearly the BOM donāt have powers to see into the future like you do. Nobody knew for certain it would turn out the way it did. Itās not even over yet anyway.
One day something major will happen and youāll wish you had the warnings and time to prepare yourself.
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You think itās ok to close a city down for multiple days in waiting, I dont.
Im happy to rest my case.
Well when a cyclone is heading into direct contact with said city, then yes I do.
Also, people werenāt āwaitingā. They were using the time to prepare their properties etc.
Not to mention there was already gradually increasing rain and winds in the past two days as well
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Some Kmarts, BIGW, Woolworths have reopened lunchtime ish today
BNE Airport looking like a whole bunch of airlines are sending aircraft back tonight.
Probably not until mid next week until supermarkets will recover to a decent standard. Toilet paper sales might be a bit slow over the coming weeks. I guess a whole bunch of batteries will be returned soon.
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This is very much a no-win situation. Decisions are made with the best information available at the time, taking into account that some of the decisions have fairly serious and significant flow-on effects (for instance, closing schools). Regardless of the decision made, it will always be perceived as the incorrect one.
These are decisions that arenāt made lightly or without an understanding of the consequences, but we have leadership that (rightly) prioritises safety over lost productivity.
While the cyclone has been downgraded, that doesnāt mean that the issue has passed - there is still a considerable amount of rain expected that can still cause damage.
Airlines would have cancelled or diverted flights if the airport stayed open - theyāre not that keen on having planes exposed to potentially damaging situations.
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Iām not to sure what youāre getting at to be honest. You only need to look at the radar and it certainly has not fizzled. Oh, and donāt forget almost 300,00 homes and businesses have lost power. That would tell me this definitely not just a bit of rain.
Looks like bit of rain over the coming 48hrs though. While it fizzled out as it arrived, the rain will be significant overnight tonight.
Queensland Rail is a vulnerable bit of infrastructure. When was the last time some cash was chucked at it, or rather than one hit, continued ongoing improvements.
EDIT- Brisbane and Gold Coast getting belted right now on the coast.
Several media sources reporting that two army trucks have collided at Lismore with eight people seriously injured. Hope everyone pulls through.
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22 according to the ABC.