A wind map showing the cyclone bearing down on southeast Queensland. Image: BOM.
More than four million people in southeast Queensland and northeastern NSW are preparing for Cyclone Alfred to cross the coast on Thursday night.
The category three storm is projected to make landfall between the northern Sunshine Coast and the Gold Coast around midnight on Thursday night, with the eye expected to cross somewhere just north of Brisbane.
Additionally, nearly 1000 km of the east coast is under a coastal hazard warning, from Forster in NSW, all the way to Sandy Cape near Bundaberg.
The timing of the expected landfall is expected to coincide with a high tide, and more than 20,000 homes in the Brisbane area alone are at risk of inundation from a storm surge amplified by the tide, the extreme low pressure of the system, and the cyclonic winds blowing towards the coast.
The Queensland Government has closed schools in the impact area on Thursday and Friday, has suspended public transport, and has cancelled elective surgeries as well, but stresses that emergency departments will stay open where possible.
The Gold Coast Airport at Coolangatta will also close at 4 pm on Wednesday, and only reopen when weather conditions allow. Additionally, a maritime red alert has been declared, so only emergency vessels are permitted to be on enclosed or open waters in the impact zone unless permission has been given by a harbour master.
Premier David Crisafulli said more than 1000 Energex linesman were on standby to move as soon as conditions allowed on Friday to repair downed powerlines, while councils had also mobilised emergency response workers and equipment in preparation.
A map of the areas in Brisbane expected to be affected by the storm surge as the cyclone crosses in conjunction with a high tide. Image: QLD Government.
The government has also allowed businesses to restock 24 hours a day in 21 local government areas from Gladstone in the north, the Gold Coast in the south, and inland to Goondiwindi as basic foods and household requirements have become scarce.
Deputy Premier Bleijie said this declaration was necessary to ensure essential businesses could restock supplies 24 hours a day.
“I’ve briefed the Queensland Disaster Management Committee of this emergency planning declaration, which [began] at 12:01 am, Wednesday 5 March,” he said.
“This is a rare event and it’s the first time an emergency declaration has been announced before a natural disaster has hit Queensland.
“The emergency declaration will enable these businesses to restock 24/7,” he added. “This includes shops, health care services, chemists, warehouses, transport depots and hardware supply businesses.”
The cyclone has been making its way south parallel to the Queensland coast for almost two weeks, only turning towards the coast at a speed of between 12 and 16 km/h on Tuesday night.
It’s rare for a tropical cyclone to make landfall so far south – the last one being in 1974. Though it’s not abnormal for cyclones to reach the latitudes of southeast Queensland, Dr Ritchie-Tyo told the ABC that the prevailing winds across Australia tended to push cyclones away from the mainland.
“So, they’re more likely to track over New Zealand than they actually are to come in on the Australian coast,” she said.
The storm is already affecting coastal regions, with strong winds and beach erosion, with these effects likely to increase as it nears the coast. Winds are expected to gust to 130 km/h if the storm is – as expected – a category two cyclone when it hits.
