We have no national coastal strategy despite over 25 national inquires/reports recommending that we do.
 
We have no plan to minimise the impacts of extreme events and climate change on coastal communities despite a comprehensive parliamentary inquiry recommending that we do. 
 
We now face billions of dollars of costs that will only continue to escalate in the future in the face of  no action. 
 
We will grow from 24 million people to 40 million people by 2050 with the vast majority living in urban coastal centres. We need a plan of action to be climate ready.

It is still too soon to know just how severe the impacts of Severe Tropical Cyclone Debbie are – this will take some days, or even weeks.

But what we do know is that the cost of the response, and importantly, recovery, will be high, and not just in monetary terms. In recovery lies the heartache of loss and destruction. In the coming weeks and months, it is vital we understand and learn from what went right, not just what went wrong.

We cannot prevent cyclones such as Debbie, but what Australia can do as a country is improve our mitigation across all natural hazards.

For cyclone and flood, this means mitigating wind and water damage through the construction of better infrastructure. Many homes will no doubt have been severely damaged, or even destroyed, by Debbie. But many will also have survived because research has shown us how to build in these areas.

We need to focus on better building and rebuilding of homes, and ensuring that existing houses have simple and cost-effective mitigation measures. 

A study after 2011’s Severe Tropical Cyclone Yasi showed that some roof upgrades to older houses could pay for themselves after just one cyclone. This is why a focus on retrofit options for existing homes is such a cost-effective approach to dealing with various hazards.

There is a critical need for discussion around land-use planning and land management, and how and where we develop new areas with roads, bridges and other infrastructure.

This is crucial in the renewed push to open northern Australia.

We all need to accept and understand that we live in a country where natural perils exist and that the management actions required to maintain our comfortable lives are sometimes inconvenient and come with their own risks and costs.

The Cyclone Testing Station from James Cook University will be sending teams into the regions impacted by Cyclone Debbie. Depending on when roads are open from flooding will depend on when we start our investigation of the performance (both good and bad) of buildings (homes, strata, sheds, etc).
 
The Cyclone Testing Station is located at James Cook University in Townsville and focuses primarily on the performance of houses and other low-rise buildings in Australia and the surrounding region. Activities include investigations after wind events as well as research, testing and community education, aimed at ensuring that buildings designed to resist severe wind events are safe, economical and sustainable.

Prior to a cyclone, make sure you have a stock of non perishable foods in cans and packages, as well as a manual can opener.

Modern refrigeration systems maintain food at safe temperatures. This helps reduce the growth of bacteria on your food which can lead to food poisoning. When there is a power outage, you need to take extra measures to reduce the risk of food-related illness.

It is important to record the time the power went off. When a power cut is ongoing (that is, it lasts for more than 4 hours and there is no immediate likelihood of reconnection) food safety becomes an important issue.

Unless cold storage is available within 2 hours of a power cut, all potentially hazardous foods such as meat, poultry, seafood and ready-to-eat perishable food) that are stored in refrigerators or chillers need to be:

• placed in alternative cold storage, for example coolers with ice or ice bricks, or into the fridges of family and friend’s
• eaten immediately
• if you have a fridge thermometer and have recorded the time the power went off, eaten immediately or thrown away if the temperature rises to above 5 degrees for over 2 hours

if you don’t have a fridge thermometer and another cold storage area is not immediately available after 2 hours.

Severe Tropical Cyclone Debbie is forecast to intensify to Category 4 and cross the North Queensland coast on Tuesday, 28 March. Houses built in the cyclonic regions of Queensland to improved building standards since the mid-1980s can be expected to withstand windloads forecast for Debbie. Research has shown some older houses will be vulnerable to damage. Houses in low-lying coastal regions, especially to the south of the crossing, and those subjected to storm surge, will be vulnerable to significant damage.