Stories from the frontline: ex-Tropical Cyclone Alfred

In March 2022 250 billion litres of flood water inundated the town of Lismore. Three years later, northern NSW was once again faced with the threat of disaster, as Tropical Cyclone Alfred loomed over the northern Coral Sea. With the ex-cyclone projected to make landfall on Saturday 8 March, anxious residents frantically prepared for its arrival.

Being no strangers to natural disaster, CBA’s frontline teams in northern NSW and southern Queensland were ready. They have since shared stories of supporting each other through that time, living in a community where memories of damaging rains and flood are still fresh.

"It's nice to be nice in this life"

In southern Queensland, the Surfers Paradise branch team set their sights on making sure the most vulnerable members of the community knew where they could take shelter during the oncoming storm.

“We see a lot of vulnerable customers in our branch, and a lot of them have no permanent home,” said Surfers Paradise Branch Manager, Elinor Short. “As soon as we heard the cyclone was coming, our Customer Banking Specialist, Tracy Rose, looked into what provisions were being made for the homeless.

“When our vulnerable customers attended the branch, we made sure they understood where they could go to be safe and most were super grateful.

“Once we reopened, a young girl came in to let us know she was safe and thank Tracy personally for the information. It’s nice to be nice in this life and every day I am so proud of my Surfers Dream Team.”

Déjà vu in Lismore

Stephanie Darragh had been Branch Manager of Lismore for three weeks when the 2022 floods hit. Three years on, she had just been visiting Lismore-based businesses to reinforce CBA’s commitment to the town, when the Cyclone Alfred alerts began.

“Mentally, the threat of the cyclone was affecting us, as it was affecting everyone in the community,” she said. “I had a phone call with the town mayor who advised us to be prepared because people were struggling – grocery shelves were empty and service stations had shut down. People were questioning whether they still wanted to live in a town they’ve lived in all their lives.

“We were glad to have Employee Assistance Program (EAP) representatives visit the branch recently to chat to the team, who know they have plenty of support should they need it during this time.”

Like many people in the community, Byron Bay Branch Manager Sarah Mosely was facing power outages and flooding at her own home. Her focus was on backup plans, as she remembered the impact the 2022 floods had on the branch.

“From my perspective, it was important that we had a ‘what’s next’ for our team and our customers. A lot of our community became very anxious as it brought up memories from our 2022 floods, which feels like it was only yesterday.

“I was pleased we were able to very quickly offer support and emergency relief packages to our customers, which really provided them with some additional peace of mind.”

Above and beyond, always

Customer Banking Specialist, Paola Brissolese, was working at the Southport Queensland branch on the first day of reopening when an elderly customer came to visit.

“His power had been out for 5 days, so I charged his phone for him and helped him pay a bill. I also told him about portable chargers - he didn’t know that such a thing existed and went straight off to buy one.

“He thanked me for my patience and said my service was outstanding. I was so happy that such a small thing made such a difference to his day.”

Communication is key

Branch Support Manager Robert Mant was on the ground supporting branches during the Lismore 2022 floods. When news of Cyclone Alfred surfaced, he remembered everything he wish he’d known then. He drove from branch to branch enabling access for contractors, assisting with sandbagging and supplying drinking water for the teams. Rob noted that his actions were nothing out of the ordinary.

“I learnt from the previous floods that the most important thing to establish was different methods of communication, including group SMS to check on staff wellbeing and safety,” he said.

“All North Coast Branch Managers were amazing in the response and our Area Manager Simone Robertson was a huge support during this difficult time.”

Simone shared her pride in her teams’ preparation efforts for the cyclone and their commitment to looking after each other.

“I could not be prouder of the team and how they all came together to support each other during this time,” she said.

“They were professional, thoughtful, caring and focussed on their people, their customers and their communities.”

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