Tropical Cyclone Alfred tested all parts of our community, from residents and businesses to all levels of government. The question most asked was "did we learn anything from the February 2022 big flood"?

The answer was an emphatic yes. Is there more to learn? Sure. When you cast your mind back to the chaotic rescue and recovery days of three years ago, we have come a long way.

The Lismore App will chat to those who played a significant role throughout the traumatic last seven days in our Talking Lismore podcast.

Brendan Logan, Lismore City Council's Chief Operating Officer and Chief Financial Officer, is the first cab off the rank.

Council planning and preparation started on Sunday, March 2, when Mr Logan was looking at a number of weather sites and realised that another weather event was going to hit the Lismore LGA.

"We got together on that Sunday, I mean, a couple of the other executives, and started to put a plan in place, one on how we communicate within the organisation, on what to expect and how we would mobilise the teams and what we needed to do. The whiteboard behind you, that's all the different things we needed to do on day one to get ready for this. It came down to that it's highly likely an Emergency Operations Centre (EOC) will be set up.

"We needed to confirm who our LEMO's (lead emergency management organisations) were, who the backup LEMO's were, how we are going to attack the implementation of the levee plan, all those different things. How are we going to stand down our outdoor works? How are we going to secure those sites? How are we going to move our plant to higher ground? What are we going to do if we need to send people home or give work from home orders? Which of our assets need to be evacuated sooner rather than later, such as the art gallery, library, Lismore Memorial Baths, and then how we communicate that, both internally and externally.

"Then, obviously, the state legislation kicks in once they get to a point that they think there's something serious happening. The local LEOCON (local emergency operations controller) Mr. Scott Tanner sort of takes over from there. But we'd done just about everything we could in terms of preparation well before that was stood up this time, so we were able to just slide into that process and work from there."

Mr Logan was also happy with the execution of the prepared plan.

"Most of the execution for us is around the levee. And sure, there's a lot of things you should just do pragmatically, look after your site, secure them, make sure you're looking after your assets. That was all pretty straightforward. Everyone just followed the plan and got on with it.

"But in terms of the role we have at that sort of local and regional level, it's actually quite small compared to the combat agencies. We got to do that levee implementation really well, and we started getting updates through the EOC on the Monday, and then Tuesday morning, we received our first sort of modeling and data through that process. I think it came from SES into that process that said Thursday afternoon, which is Thursday last week, is when things are going to get really difficult in terms of wind and rain, and that modeling was quite alarming.

"That was Tuesday morning. So we came up with a plan that had us done by 2pm Thursday in terms of levee implementation and everything we needed to do with their own sites, and most importantly, keeping everyone safe while we went through that. We knew how to prepare and roll out everything so that we were ahead of that curve."

One of the lessons we could learn from this event was dealing with a cyclone and not just a lot of rain.

"I think all agencies, ourselves and all the state agencies, probably didn't know how to grapple with that properly. I wouldn't say anyone got anything wrong, and I'm certainly not being critical of anyone, but we should review this and look at what information was provided and what decisions were taken with that in mind. Because I know what was front and centre for me. It wasn't the cyclone, it wasn't the levee, it wasn't the water, it was the safety of our staff, because at the same time the data was forecasting a flood, it was forecasting 120 to 150 kilometer hour winds.

"So we had to negotiate with the SES and all those things to be getting our tasks around the levee and everything we needed to do outside well ahead of when we normally would, because we didn't want anyone outside exposed to those dangers while that was ramping up."

The SES had told Mr Logan they were going to make earlier calls given forecasts and modeling data anyway, let alone with a cyclone bearing down on Lismore and the Northern Rivers. Was there a time when you felt the flooding was going to be bad?

"I would say, I was on the fence all week. I could see the data. But I've been in the area 25 years, and you chuck those two things into the pot. I probably got most concerned on Saturday, just gone, when we had a river that was approaching a major flood, and you still had that rain event, that there was a lot of uncertainty about. And I said it could go north, it could go west, it could go south. And, you know, I think that was somewhat justified. I'm not sure how much was forecast for Hervey Bay, but I know they got 350 mil that they weren't really expecting. If that 350 mil had come this way, we probably wouldn't be talking now, but if we were, we'd be having a very different conversation.

As for assessing the damage in the Lismore LGA caused by TC Alfred?

"We're starting to assess a small amount of damage, but I was just driving around then, and we've still got quite high water in a lot of places. We've done a lot of work over the weekend on that, and we've been lucky enough to have the flood restoration team under Josh Hartcher, who have been living in that world for a couple of years. So we got them together with Josh Smith, the Deputy Chief Operating Officer, over the weekend, to come up with a system to one, make sure we capture everything, and two make sure we account for everything properly.

"And most importantly, the message I gave the team this morning was we don't want to rush this. I think there was a tendency after the 2022 event that we needed to rush through this and get everything restored as quickly as possible. And I wasn't here at the time, but my sense is that that's not the way to do these things regardless of the urgency, it needs to be measured.

"You need to understand your damage, and most importantly, you need to track your costs as a small regional council, because if you don't get that right, if anything's not eligible, suddenly Council's the one that's got to pay for it. So, I've asked the team to be thorough and proactive, but make sure they're not rushing and make sure they're measured in the way they do this."

"The other thing I've asked them to do is don't go straight to outsourcing or don't go looking for people to do this on your behalf. We've got a lot of staff here, a lot of talented staff, and we've got a lot of plants, so where we can just self-deliver and look after our own LGA, I've asked the staff to make sure that happens before we worry about external people coming in to help.

Mr Logan gave an average cost to council for each flood. A minor flood causes about $1-2 million damage to council assets, while a major flood causes above $10 million of damage. As Alfred arrived three years after Lismore's worst ever flood, we have a recovery on top of a recovery.

"I imagine we'll be north of $10 million in terms of damage from a flood of this magnitude, maybe more, because when you approach that major line versus the minor one, you're bringing into a lot of assets that don't get hit by the minor, like footpaths and barbecues and just a whole heap of other things that don't normally get damaged. So it's way too early to assess that, because the water hasn't dropped. But give it a day or two, and we'll have teams out there starting to look at that.

Probably the most talked-about topic after a flood is the road network and the many potholes that appear. What is your advice to residents?

"The guidelines say you've got to have it done in 90 days, and that doesn't mean you can take 90 days. So we're working to a 90 day period. The advice would be, certainly today, that we do require a little bit of patience. But, I guess what we want to do is get through that assessment phase, accurately, rather than quickly, but still as quick as we can. And then just be honest with people, here's what we've assessed, and here's the schedule of how we're going to do it. So, for better or worse, people can see where certain things are supposed to occur in terms of the time frame going forward."

Lastly, Mr Logan wanted to praise his staff.

"I do want to call out the staff, particularly the core team, that have been working on this for the last 10 days. You're talking sort of minimum 12 hour days, back to back for about 10 days for a lot of people. We have started to stand people down to give them a rest. Everyone loved helping their community. I don't remember a raised voice. I don't remember any ego, everyone just checked all that out at the door and said, we're here to do a job.

"I was really, really proud just to sit back and watch the team get on with it like that. So I've got to call them out and, a call out to our state government partners. Post 2022, I felt we had to fight for what we're eligible for, and I'm probably on record for being a bit bullish about that, but I'll give the Matt Fullers, the James Bolton, the Mal Lanyon's credit. They came straight to us and said, Okay, we're on this. How can we help?

"So it's fantastic to see everyone's grown out of that last one, and things are happening a lot quicker. There's, dare I say, a lot of trust building between us and the state agencies on how we deal with that."

To listen to the full podcast, click Talking Lismore podcast or go to the Lismore App website under the News tab https://talkinglismore.buzzsprout.com/.