Scenic Rim Mayor Tom Sharp was back at his post on 10 March, arriving to a disaster management situation after a business trip and personal leave in Europe.
Mayor Sharp said he had been in daily communication with Local Disaster Management Group chair Cr Stephen Moriarty since the cyclone alerts were issued by the Bureau of Meteorology.
Cr Sharp said he was grateful for the leadership shown during the crisis.
“From David Crisafulli down, I think the messaging was very good in terms of being prepared, not scared,” he said.
“I think the Premier led the state calmly through this, bringing that right back into our region.
“We do things differently in the Scenic Rim now in this new government whereby we share responsibility and elected Stephen Moriarty as the chair of the LDMG.”
Cr Sharp said the LDMG had done a great job.
“Stephen made himself available to me at all times while I was overseas,” he said.
“We were communicating fluidly every day. He was informing me of everything and kept me fully up to date at all times.”
Cr Sharp said leadership within the community had been exceptional.
“Some of the community leadership within the communities most affected, particularly Arran Hassel up on Tamborine Mountain, have done an excellent job,” he said.
“And with that he was also communicating fluidly with Cr Moriarty and that’s what we need at these times. a community working together.
“In addition to that the support from our State member Jon Krause and Federal member Scott Buchholz was exceptional and I’m also grateful to them.”
Cr Sharp said the situation could have been worse.
“We’re grateful to the weather gods that it turned out to be a whimper and not a cyclone,” he said.
“We do feel we got off lightly to date but we’re not through it yet.”
The Mayor said he would be visiting impacted towns in the days to come.
“We had a state disaster meeting today, and I will be meeting with the Tamborine Mountain community tomorrow,” he said.
“I’ll be travelling through the region with Cr Moriarty to do the ongoing assessment and cleanup that is before us as well as just reminding everyone that all those hackneyed phrases like ‘if it’s flooded, forget it’, they still apply.”
Cr Sharp said the region would rely on support from all lead agencies in the recovery period.
“Particularly around water quality, water security, power and transportation and movement of goods as well as the number one priority, keeping everyone safe,” he said.
