TC Gabrielle Tracks Across Norfolk Island February 2023

Last week Norfolk Island residents and visitors were advised to prepare for a tropical Storm. TC Gabrielle formed in the Coral Sea in Northern QLD area. The cyclone was predicted to track across Norfolk Island with the eye passing over our small island on Saturday and Sunday 11 and 12 February 2023. On Friday the cyclone was Category 3, and the community were on cyclone alert awaiting the full force of the winds, swells, and rain. The forecast was for wind gusts up to 250km, and luckily the system was downgraded as it approached Norfolk Island as a Category 2 storm with wind gusts up to 155km.

Friday night the winds increased and heavy rain fell over night and on Saturday morning many businesses and tour operators closed early and cancelled tours as the winds increased and Cyclone Alert was raised to RED. During the morning a few brave locals visited Cascade Pier and captured images of massive swells rolling in over the Pier and gantry.

On Saturday afternoon the winds were picking up and strong winds bashed through the trees and there were reports of trees down and power outages, which the community were expecting. As the wind roared through our valley, I felt pleased that our power lines were underground at our home and relieved the house was sheltered, and I worried about friends who lived near the cliff tops near the ocean with little protection from high winds.

The wind continued through the night, some gust recorded as 120km, but I’m sure the cliff edges would have been higher. As I tracked the storm on “Windy” the weather apt, the eye of the storm approached after 11pm and it was so strange to have the wind stop, and we could hear the night-time insects and the roar of the ocean swells on the shoreline in the distance. The barometer dropped to under 960, the lowest it could go on our old weather barometer. After midnight the wind and stormy weather returned, but the wind changed direction from NE to NW and eventually to SW. I think during the cyclone we had wind from every direction, so no-one was spared the wind gusts.

During the cyclone the internet at my home wasn’t too bad, sometimes in and out, which I expected with the weather conditions and amazingly the power

stayed on all night. I was pleased to manage to sleep, and in the morning the wind was still blowing and as the cyclone moved South towards New Zealand, I worried about family, those in Northland were already feeling the effects of the wind and swells before the cyclone had even reached their shores.

I drove to Cascade Pier to see the aftermath of the cyclone on Sunday. There were boulders which had been thrown up from along the Cascade Pier coastal area onto the roadway and the entry onto the pier had been blocked with these big rocks, just as they had done last year during TC Dovi Cat 3 storm, which was the same date one year earlier. There were also roadway concrete slabs broken and washed up to the cliff edges. The swells were still rolling in and smashing into the Cascade Pier area and the fury of the storm over night shows the power of the ocean, which is not easy to tame. In 2016, and 2017 the Cascade Pier was upgraded and extended approximately 25 metres, the new deflector along the side of the Pier must have angled the waves to water blast the massive boulders up onto the land and roadway.

On Sunday there were still reports of power outages and locals were given advise to lodge storm damage and power issues. I read there were a couple buildings and homes with concerns of roof damage or sheds damaged. There were many trees down and when driving around we saw many branches off trees. On Mission Road a massive gum tree had come down, taking out the powerlines. The workmen had done a big job cutting it up and removing from the road, plus the power crew repairing the power lines.

Across the island there were damaged gardens and crops, I can just imagine flattened bananas, tomatoes etc. But luckily everyone had come through the storm with minimal damage and as far as I know there were no injuries. When posting images on Facebook which I took on Sunday, many people off island were happy to see Lone Pine still standing at Emily Bay. I was pleased to see our White Tern Chick had survived the cyclone too and was still safe in the tree next to our house.

Social media post showed “Forrester’s Court” clean up with many truck loads of trees and branches and the buildings windows looked sandblasted, lucky they have been built to a cyclone standard also with toughen glass.

This week it has been reported that the Fisherman’s Hut at Phillip Island has also been damaged, blown to pieces, which just shows the strength of the storm. Many locals and visitors will be sad to see the posts on Facebook and a crowd funding has started to raise money to rebuild the structure which is used by fisherman and bird and environmental researchers when staying at Phillip Island which is 6 or 7km south of Norfolk Island, which is the larger island looking out to sea from Kingston.

During the cyclone, tourists were stuck on Norfolk Island for a longer stay as flights were cancelled on Saturday, Sunday and Monday and scheduled and additional flights returned on Tuesday and Wednesday.

Thank you to everyone who assisted with the clean-up and repairing the power service for those who were affected. I am sure everyone caught up with sleep on Sunday night, after the roar of the wind on Friday and Saturday nights.

Now our thoughts and sadness are with our closest neighbour, New Zealand. The North Island has been devastated by TC Gabrielle. It was been damage from the top of the country and down the country along the east coast and terrible flooding and storm damage in the areas from the East Cape down into Hawkes Bay, which is my home. My family are safe, but my concerns still remain as news reports still come in as rescues still continue as families are slowly making contact after loss of power, communication, water supplies and roads and bridges washed away. The images remind me of the massive floods in Australia in the past year. The storm weather warnings were given that this was a massive cyclone storm, and it sure came with a nasty punch and New Zealand was declared as a National State of Emergency as the storm hit on Tuesday 14 February 2023.

Here are a few images I took on the weekend at Cascade Pier, showing the rocks washed up, plus the trees damaged and the power crew repairing powerlines in Cascade Road.

Betty Matthews

February 2023