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Ex-Tropical Cyclone Alfred came and left. This tight-knit community still can't return home
As towns continue their recovery efforts following ex-Tropical Cyclone Alfred, one Aboriginal community is gripped with uncertainty.
Published 29 March 2025 7:39am
By Rayane Tamer
Source: SBS News
Image: Cabbage Tree Island was destroyed during the floods in 2022, and all 130 residents were forced to move out. (SBS News)
Delia Rhodes has been carrying a heavy heart since she was forced off her ancestral homeland in 2022.
She points to the makeshift home she's been living out of for three years now: a shipping container-style pod.
"It's been unsettling for the first few years. I've been through depression. The beginning took a lot of toll on myself," Rhodes says.
Delia Rhodes has been living in a temporary pod village since the 2022 floods destroyed her town. Source: SBS News
Among those affected is the small Aboriginal community of Cabbage Tree Island, where Rhodes hails from.
"Cabbo", as it's known by locals, is nestled in the Ballina Shire and known for its luscious green surrounds. Until it was devastated by the 2022 floods, it was home to around 130 people, with just 26 homes sparsely peppered throughout the island village. It had its own local school — one of the first Aboriginal-run schools in the state.
For its Aboriginal residents, the area carries stories of kin and Country: it's believed tens of thousands of First Nations people have an ancestral connection to Cabbage Tree Island.
Cabbage Tree Island residents have been living in pod villages in the nearby suburb of Wardell for nearly three years now. Source: SBS News
In 2022, the floods turned the town into a wasteland, forcing all residents to be evacuated until it was safe to return.
Three years later, they're still waiting.
The community has had no choice but to try to get comfortable in nearby Wardell. Their pods have turned into homes, and Cabbage Tree Island Public School has been relocated to the village.
"There's not much privacy and to be here this long wasn't expected," Rhodes says.
Even though I lived with my mob all my life, but to be in close proximity with everybody … it's very uncomfortable.
The fight to overcome 'complete dispossession'
Co-chair of Jali Local Aboriginal Land Council, Kylie Jacky, tells SBS News descendants of Cabbage Tree Island have a long history of flooding, due to the encompassing nature of the Richmond River.
"Our people know how to manage and respect floods, and some believe floods are really important to clean Country as well," she says.
But the catastrophic water levels in 2022 had "never been experienced in anyone's living memory", Jacky explains.
The damage was consequential. In a September 2023 meeting, the former Jali board voted upon advice from the NSW government that Cabbage Tree Island was deemed too "high risk" and decided the village would not be rebuilt.
Jacky says the decision, which many residents were unaware of, triggered "agony and distress".
"I understand a lot of the elderly walked out of the meeting in despair. There was no sense of being able to change the course of the path of what was, at that time, complete dispossession of Cabbage Tree Island."
A year later, residents successfully lobbied to overturn the decision, and work is now underway to rebuild the Island with a flood-resilient plan in place.
Ex-Tropical Cyclone Alfred stirs uncertainty
Just as the internal politicking over reconstruction efforts began to subside, another storm started brewing.
, threatening not only to wreak havoc on Cabbage Tree Island again, but also to impact the temporary homes of its displaced residents too.
Niki Gill, who has been managing the pod village with Christian not-for-profit Uniting since it opened in 2022, says residents were encouraged to evacuate the pods ahead of the cyclone for their safety.
Niki Gill says there was a lot of uncertainty over whether ex-Tropical Cyclone Alfred would impact the temporary pod village. Source: SBS News / Patrick Thomas
"Decisions were made through the SES that this community would be asked to relocate."
According to Rhodes, around 70 per cent of residents in the pod village moved to nearby evacuation centres, placing an emotional strain on the town and serving as a sobering reminder of how much longer it may take for them to return home.
Cabbage Tree Island now: a ghost town
Rhodes's ancestral home is just five minutes from the pod village. It's currently devoid of life.
A big toppled-over tree partially obstructs the town's entrance; shattered windows adorn empty homes; and the once-lively school is fenced off.
Cabbage Tree Island was home to around 130 residents when flooding devastated the town in 2022. Source: SBS News
"Cabbage Tree Island will be the only discrete Aboriginal community in NSW that's been designed and rebuilt to be flood resilient," she says.
That in itself is a real achievement; [it's] something I'm really proud that we will achieve.
Kylie Jacky says she's proud that Cabbage Tree Island could become the first discrete Aboriginal community in NSW designed to be flood resilient. Source: SBS News
"Participation from the local Aboriginal community in all decision-making processes has been an ongoing priority and will continue to be in any subsequent consultation."
For Rhodes and the children she teaches at the local school, the return can't come soon enough.
"I just support them and say, 'yes, we'd all like to get back, but let's just wait and it'll be bigger and better when we get home'.
"As soon as we go home, I think my heart will be a lot lighter."
