Cyclone Alfred live updates: BoM tracking map forecast shows category 2 storm hitting Brisbane and south-east Qld; landfall in Queensland and NSW delayed as storm slows – latest news
A lot of people are in harm’s way, Jim Chalmers says
The treasurer, Jim Chalmers, is speaking to ABC News Breakfast from his electorate of Logan in Queensland where he says it is the “calm before the storm”:
We’re preparing for the worst, but hoping for the best. There is a lot of stress and anxiety. People are obviously very concerned and very worried about what the next couple of days might bring …
There’s a lot of people in harm’s way here. We’re talking about something like four and a half million Australians, potentially in harm way, 1.8m homes, and we expect that there’ll be billions of dollars of damage done by Cyclone Alfred and so the best thing we can do is prepare and stay informed, make sure that people are accessing all of the relevant information and getting it from trusted sources …
It’s rare for a cyclone to be this far south and to threaten such a huge population area, but we do learn from previous natural disasters.
All three levels of government were working together, Chalmers said, and the government would be there for affected communities in the aftermath.
Key events
Queensland premier David Crusafilli is speaking saying the cyclone’s crossing has pushed into the early hours of Saturday morning, as of the last few minutes:
It remains as a Category 2 and obviously we have seen the delay in the system heading towards the coast. It literally in the last few minutes, we have been updated that that could now push into Saturday morning.
Andrew Messenger
City of Moreton Bay reopens sandbag stations, plans evacuations for Bribie Island
The City of Moreton Bay will reopen sandbag depots from 11am, as it implements a plan to evacuate vulnerable residents.
The council will reopen and refill sandbag stations at Margate, Caboolture and Bribie Island from 11am. Other stations will also be progressively replenished today.
Residents are urged to bring their own bags, due to a shortage – as well as a shovel, and zip ties.
More than 300,000 sandbags and 3000 tonnes of sand have been distributed so far, more than triple any previous event.
Meanwhile, the city has also begun evacuating at-risk sections of Bribie island today.
The current forecast has the TC Alfred wind speed loop situated over Bribie Island.
The Moreton Bay Disaster Management Centre is conducting an urgent call out campaign to 170 vulnerable residences at Bellara, Bongaree and Banksia Beach. 104 residents were successfully contacted last night, with the balance contacted this morning.
Residents are being encouraged to take shelter with family or friends or housed at the evacuation centre where that isn’t possible.
Residents on the mainland in low-lying areas are also being encouraged to consider evacuation before it is too late.
Evacuation centres have been established at the following locations in Northern NSW:
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Tyalgum Hall, Coolman Street, Tyalgum NSW 2484
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Lindisfarne Anglican Grammar, 86 Mahers Lane, Terranora NSW 2486
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Mullumbimby RSL, 58 Dalley Street, Mullumbimby NSW 2482
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Kingscliff TAFE, 806 Cudgen Road, Kingscliff NSW 2487
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Murwillumbah TAFE, 146 Murwillumbah Street, Murwillumbah NSW 2484
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Kyogle Memorial Hall Stratheden Street, Kyogle NSW 2474
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Casino Showground, Casino NSW 2470
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Southern Cross University, Military Road, East Lismore New South Wales 2480
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Evans Head RSL, 11-13 McDonald Place, Evans Head New South Wales 2473
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Burringar Sports Club, Fourth Avenue, Burringbar NSW 2483
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Uki Hall, 1462 Kyogle Road, Uki NSW 2484
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Coraki Public School, 50 Adams Street, Coraki NSW 2471
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Ocean Shores Country Club, 113A Orana Road, Ocean Shores NSW 2483
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Ballina Southern Cross Public School, Chickiba Drive, East Ballina NSW 2478
The NSW government has opened the State Emergency Operations Centre as Tropical Cyclone Alfred approaches landfall in north-eastern NSW.
The Bureau of Meteorology has issued a severe weather warning for north-eastern NSW – including the Northern Rivers, Mid North Coast and Northern Tablelands areas – and southeast Queensland expecting gale-force winds and damaging gusts.
These destructive winds are expected to cause storm surge, which combined with high tides could cause flooding in the Northern Rivers and Mid North Coast areas from today.
State Emergency Operations Controller, Deputy Commissioner Peter Thurtell, said:
We are expecting some of the most severe weather conditions this state has seen in recent years hitting our northern coast in the coming days.
Opening the State Emergency Operations Centre is not a light decision; it should be a clear sign to the NSW public – especially those living in Northern Rivers and Mid North Coast areas – that we are expecting extreme conditions.
The combination of high tides, excessive rain and extreme winds will cause flooding and dangerous conditions on our roads. I am urging all NSW road users to avoid driving during these weather conditions.
Anyone who does choose to drive will be putting their own life, your passengers’ lives and the lives of emergency service personnel at risk.
Andrew Messenger
Bardon homes on stilts to face cyclone
Two houses on stilts in Brisbane’s western suburbs are set to brave Tropical Cyclone Alfred.
The two homes – at Simpsons Road in Bardon – are under construction in an area which regularly floods.
That’s unlikely to be a major concern this time, but Alfred is a category-two tropical cyclone and is expected to bring sustained winds of 95km/h, gusting up to 130km/h.
Ben Smee
Blue skies in Brisbane
Most of south-east Queensland went to bed on Wednesday expecting today would be the day Tropical Cyclone Alfred arrives.
Schools are shut, buses have stopped and residents warned to stay at home in expectation that dangerous winds and heavy rain would set in on Thursday.
But this morning Brisbane’s skies are blue. The wind has died down. The bloody kookaburras that wake my kids up were at it before 5am.
It is – of course – a temporary moment of calm before Alfred arrives.
But for many it will underscore how unbelievably peculiar this past week has felt.
Since Sunday we’ve known that Brisbane, the Sunshine Coast and the Gold Coast are potentially in the path of a category-two storm. Most residents have prepared their homes.
The calm before the storm feels surreal.
Andrew Messenger
Musgrave park’s tent city taken down
Musgrave park – Brisbane’s traditional residence of last resort – was empty last night, for the first time in years.
Hundreds of people sleep on the streets of south-east Queensland on an ordinary night. Brisbane is Australia’s second-most expensive city and is facing its most severe housing crisis in decades.
But with the impending arrival of Tropical Cyclone Alfred, a small army of volunteers packed down the park’s tent city yesterday.
Selena Ham, from North West Community Support, said many of the residents had been moved into temporary shelter at Emmanuel City Mission or Kurilpa Hall, but some had been found longer-term accommodation:
One lady was very excited that she had gotten into a women’s shelter and she was able to take all her stuff. She’s waiting for a lift to that.
The property has been marked according to tent number and will be returned once the cyclone is over.
Many of the volunteers took the day off work to help protect the residents of the 30 tents. Ham said:
There’s lots of things going on in the world that are a bit shit that I can do nothing about, but this is something I can do.
Homeless people elsewhere in south-east Queensland reportedly remain on the streets, telling services they have nowhere to store their possessions and would rather brave the wind.
Premier David Crisafulli yesterday said the Department of Housing had offered every homeless person in the affected area some form of shelter, but “quite a few” had refused it:
And that’s why we have to keep going back and redoubling our efforts.
Record-breaking wave
As we brought you earlier, the Queensland premier David Crisafulli mentioned the record-breaking 12.3m wave overnight off the Gold Coast. The state government’s wave monitoring website shows there were three waves over 12 metres in the last 24 hours – coming in at 12.37m, 12.34m and 12.11m.
Josh Nicholas
Disaster data
As much of Queensland and northern NSW brace for Cyclone Alfred, new data shows how much Australians are being affected by disasters. Almost one in 20 Australians had their homes damaged by weather-related disasters in 2021-22, according to a national survey released today. The Hilda survey interviews the same 17,000 people every year and has asked about natural disasters since 2009.
The latest spike corresponds to flooding in Queensland, New South Wales and Victoria in 2022. The previous high mark was in 2010-11, after storms in Western Australia and the black Saturday.
So far 198 people have registered with an evacuation centre, Rose Jackson said:
There are 198 people who have registered with an evacuation centre already. They opened up 4pm yesterday. So some of those people are in the centres and using the facilities now, others have just come and registered. But if an evacuation order is in place, they will attend the centre, so that’s the current status.
10,000 homes could be evacuated, NSW SES says
SES deputy commissioner Peter Thurtell says 20,000 people are affected by the evacuation orders:
We currently have approximately 10,000 homes in the area of the 24 prepare-to-evacuate areas, that would equate to approximately 20,000 people that are again acknowledging a number of people have already relocated and they are very broad figures, but we are talking significant numbers …
Those numbers are the worst-case scenario numbers … we are planning for the worst and hoping for the best.
Evacuation centres ready in northern NSW
Getting back to that NSW press conference, Rose Jackson says there are two evacuation centres open which are primarily being used by vulnerable people, and seven locations which are ready to be opened if they are needed:
We already have a number of people at the Lismore site and at the Evans Head site, in particular. There are small numbers at some of the other locations. Most of those individuals are vulnerable people people who are already experiencing homelessness, perhaps residents of the pod villages. We know on the New South Wales north coast there is a significant number of people in unstable housing. We have proactively reached out to those people through our partner organisations, the SES, the Reconstruction Authority, and invited them to come and stay at evacuation centres and pleasingly a number have. The Lismore and Evans Head facilities, we have seen a number of people. There are another seven locations primarily around the mid north coast, the major centres there that had not opened evacuation centres yet, but we do have sites identified and, depending on how the storm moves and its impact, we are ready to open those mid north coast centres if they are needed.
Brisbane reopens sandbag depots
Andrew Messenger
Brisbane city council plans to reopen its sandbag depots, with Tropical Cyclone Alfred moving slower than expected.
Four resource recovery centres will open at 10am. They are at:
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1372 Nudgee Road, Nudgee Beach
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360 Sherbrooke Road, Willawong
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101 Upper Kedron Road, Ferny Grove
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728 Tilley Road, Chandler
The seven fill-your-own sandbag distribution points will reopen at 10.30am.
They are at:
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Mortimer Road park – 174 Mortimer Road, Acacia Ridge
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The former Toowong bowls club – corner Gailey Road and Heroes Avenue, Toowong
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Whites Hill reserve – 258 Boundary Road, Camp Hill
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Boondall Entertainment Centre, Car Park 2 – 1 Melaleuca Drive, Boondall
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Davies park, Montague Road, West End
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Atthows park, Monier Road, Darra
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Murarrie recreational reserve, Wynnum Road, Murarrie
The council’s website will list the availability of sand at each site, along with wait times.
More than 400,000 sandbags have been collected or filled in the council area alone since Friday, more than double the number used in the 2022 flood.
Sand and bags will be provided onsite but residents should bring their own shovels and cable ties.
Andrew Messenger
ABC radio moves to higher ground
Brisbane’s local ABC breakfast radio program has abandoned the broadcaster’s South Bank headquarters as Tropical Cyclone Alfred approaches.
Based in South Brisbane, the multi-storey building can flood.
Craig Zonca and Loretta Ryan are instead broadcasting out of a hotel in Spring Hill – well above the high-water line.
Mental health support offered to northern NSW residents
Rose Jackson, the NSW minister for the north coast, acknowledged the anxiety and distress in the community with this latest natural disaster coming after “years of trauma” due to extreme weather:
I also want to send this message to the north coast community, we know that after years of trauma that they have the devastating floods going back to 2017 and of course 2022 there is a lot of anxiety and distress in the community.
Mental health support is available. There will be disaster recovery clinicians and mental health staff on-site in evacuation centres but the statewide phone lines in the mental health line one 800 011511 is available 24/7. You can contact Lifeline or Beyond Blue, you can contact the kids helpline. If you feel distressed or anxious, that is a very normal response to this very distressing situation.
Please reach out and chat to someone and talk through how you are feeling. The New South Wales government really wants the community on the north coast to know that we are prepared an understanding with you – but it is OK to feel stressed and upset and anxious in these circumstances and the best thing you can do is make sure that you know you have done everything to prepare and if you need someone to talk to, pick up a phone and have a chat about how you are feeling.
Evacuation orders expected
State emergency operations controller and deputy commissioner Peter Thurtell is relaying a similar message that people should not underestimate the impact of the cyclone due to the delay:
I want to be really clear that a delay in the timing of the crossing of the cyclone across land for does not mean less impact. We’re already seeing the impacts of significant winds and coastal surge. We’re already seeing the impacts of damaging winds and we’re are already seeing, as we’ve just heard, the impacts of the rainfall and early river rises.
He is urging residents of NSW to heed the 24 warnings to prepare to evacuate in the state, with further warnings anticipated for low-lying communities:
Based on the current projections and the current rainfall, we believe later today some of those low-lying communities will be receiving an emergency warning to evacuate.
