Ex-tropical cyclone Alfred: How the Gold Coast coped with flooding and rain on Monday
The Gold Coast’s top cop says recovery plans are well-advanced, as the city sees a significant injection of manpower, including 60 cops from north Queensland and 50 ADF servicemen and women.
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The Gold Coast’s top cop says agencies are “already looking at recovery” as the effects of ex-Tropical Cyclone Alfred on the region continue to ebb away.
Speaking to reporters on Monday morning, Acting Chief Superintendent Peter Miles said the Gold Coast was being flooded with emergency services reinforcements – including the Australian Defence Force and a police detachment from north Queensland – as the immediacy of the crisis begins to pass.
According to Superintendent Miles, as at 10am Monday, the region had 67,500 customers without electricity – down from 140,000 Sunday – and 109 road closures in place, either due to flooding or debris.
Evacuation centres at Burleigh Waters and Pimpama had been scaled back to ‘release centres’, wherein locals could duck in for a refresh, charge their phones and grab a cup of coffee.
The remaining evacuation centre at Runaway Bay had 47 occupants, Superintendent Miles said.
An emergency situation was ongoing at Broadbeach, where two large Norfolk pine trees were leaning dangerously across the road, threatening powerlines just after 10am.
Police and Energex crews were on the scene at Broadbeach Bvd, across from the Broadbeach One development site, which is yet to be built on.
Police had closed Broadbeach Ave south of Second Ave, where crowds of people watched as emergency services and tree loppers surveyed the scene.
It comes as onlookers pack onto the beach to check out the erosion on the Gold Coast’s famous beaches.
The heavy, pounding surf of the past few days has receded, leaving bare the impact of ex-tropical cyclone Alfred.
Paradise Point has so far escaped the worst case flooding scenario flagged by the council as the cyclone approached last week.
At high tide, around 6am, water was across parts of the Esplanade and parts of the aptly-dubbed “duck streets” including Drake Ave and Donald Ave.
Most locals were waking up after a third night without power including Julie, whose sandbagged home is next to a flooded section of road.
“It’s been a pretty hairy few days at this end of Paradise Point,” she said.
“This is as bad as it’s got, we haven’t flooded and nothing was damaged.
“I just had no power since Friday night, which is a real pain in the neck, but considering how bad it was, we’re really good. “
“It looked pretty scary on those maps they brought out - I packed the bag, I wasn’t sure whether I was going to have to go or not.”
The submerged roads have not been closed, but locals have asked people to avoid the area, or at least to slow down to avoid pushing the water level any higher.
Across the Gold Coast district, there had been 21 swiftwater rescues in the last 24 hours, and a “couple” of evacuations.
Superintendent Miles said the region had welcomed significant new reinforcements across the last day or two: 50 ADF members had been dispatched to assist with clearing roads and making infrastructure safe, while Operation Xray Secure had seen 60 police officers from north Queensland begin high-visibility policing duties across the Logan and Gold Coast districts.
Gold Coast SES crews would be focusing on Monday more on isolated communities, such as Springbrook, Tallebudgera, Currumbin, Steiglitz, and Jacobs Well, Superintendent Miles said.
He said all agencies involved in responding to ex-Tropical Cyclone Alfred had performed their roles excellently, and could take a lot of credit for the region’s absence of death or serious injury thus far.
“We know we’re not through this just yet, but we’re already looking at recovery,” Superintendent Miles said.
“Those plans are in place, the work’s been going on for a couple of days now on what recovery looks like and what we’ve got to do.
“So moving forward, let’s try to get people back to a sense of normality as quick as we can.”
Earlier, the Gold Coast woke to flash flooding across the city as Alfred, now a tropical low, continued to batter the region with heavy rain.
In Southport, the intersection of Queen Street and Marine Parade, heading towards Surfers Paradise, was flooded, cutting off what would normally be a busy thoroughfare throughout the day.
The city’s CBD was quiet, though many businesses were reopening despite the flooded roads and continuing wet conditions.
Large swathes of Southport remained without power into a fifth day, with the suburb recording the highest amount of power outages anywhere in the city.
One of the #goldcoast’s key intersections heading towards #surfersparadise is underwater. Be careful and avoid. @GCBulletinpic.twitter.com/fC6blqhdFH
— Andrew Potts (@GCS_Pottsy) March 9, 2025
Meanwhile, Stockland Burleigh Heads – which has been shut since late last week – was preparing to reopen on Monday morning.
Clean-up crews have been busy after Alfred shredded its shade sails and felled a huge gum treee near the gym in the carpark.
“Some parts of the centre have been impacted by the storm and heavy rain,” it said in a statement.
“Please check with individual stores before visiting.”
Overnight, emergency services responded to three local reports of vehicles being overwhelmed by floodwaters.
According to Queensland Ambulance Service (QAS), it answered three calls for service at Tamborine, Carrara and Arundel.
Paramedics responded to reports of a vehicle caught in flood water on the corner of Birmingham and Nielsens roads at Carrara at 9.08pm Sunday.
Five patients were safely rescued and did not require transport to hospital.
Less than an hour later, at 9.45pm, crews responded to reports of a vehicle caught in flood water on the corner of Dellcal Pl and Williamson Rd, Tamborine.
The patient did not require transport to hospital.
Finally a vehicle was caught in flood water at Napper Rd, Arundel at 10.05pm.
No patients required transport to hospital.
At 5pm Sunday, QAS crews also assessed two uninjured patients at a house collapse at Harley Street, Labrador.
Both patients declined transport to hospital.
Residents across Merrimac are urging motorists to be extra vigilant as a herd of deer roam free across the suburb. The herd were initially seen running down Bourton and Highfield Drive when spotted by a concerned driver.”
Lookout for the wildlife who have lost their shelter,” the local posted to a Facebook community page.
The resident who captured footage of the deer running as a collective down the middle of a residential street said they appeared to be frightened and distressed.
“After this video I drove down trying to find them but they disappeared,” he wrote.
“Their typical habitat is completely flooded. So sad. Imagine all the other animals affected by all this rain.”
Meanwhile still in Merrimac, residents are fuming after a herd of cattle were left in a known flood zone on Council-owned land opposite CBUS stadium.
Local Hayley Goddard said nearby residents had been on high alert since Sunday when flood waters started to rise rapidly, shutting the animals off from dry land.
“I could hear them crying out last night - this has been happening since Sunday and nothing’s been done, people are aware and the matter has been reported by multiple people to the RSPCA,” Ms Goddard said.
She described more than two dozen cows, including young calves, perched on a small strip of mud, blocked off from fresh feeding grass because of a barbed wire fence.
“They need food,” she said.
“They’re trapped now where they are. Someone needs to either cut that fence or take them some hay, because they’re just going to be starving. They’re just looking out and making all these cries for help. It’s heartbreaking.”
Ms Goddard said the animals had desperately been sticking their necks through the barbed wire fence to reach grass to try and feed.
“There’s a mum that’s trapped in a separate spot - she’s the one that’s making a lot of noise,” she said.
“She’s trapped near a tree with probably 2sq m of grass. So I don’t know why she hasn’t swam over to the others, but she seems to be distressed.”
Ms Goddard along with an array of other residents have said they’re unsure of where the cattle’s owner is during this period.
A Gold Coast City Council spokesperson said council was in the process of contacting the operator who is agisting the cows on City land.
Southern Gold Coast
Manager at Palm Beach Currumbin Sports Club Kate Hickey said despite the devastating disaster it’s inspiring watching the community coming together.
“We’ve got some of our staff who live in Currumbin Waters so they’re isolated, haven’t had power or internet or water for days. There’s damaged homes in Elanora, trees downed, it’s devastating.”
“Outside of crazy winds and lots of flood damage everywhere, the community has been amazing. You drive through and see people getting out of cars cleaning gutters, cutting trees, just everyone pitching in and working together. It’s been really good.
“Everyone’s coming together and working together. I’ve been through a few of these in my time here, and every time everyone steps up, pitches in and those that can’t help because they’re in need of it, they get it.”
Outfront two young boys could be seen skimboarding the flood waters, Ms Hickey said the “little groms have been at it for days”.
A Burleigh hair salon that has serviced the community for two decades and two generations opened its doors to those impacted by ex-cyclone Alfred.
Frontline for Hair at Treetops has been offering free hair washes for those caught without hot water and power since Monday.
Owner Mitch Gilmore said he got the idea to offer the free service when his wife said all she wanted to do was, “wash her hair” after days without power at their Reedy Creek home.
“People have been really appreciative of it,” he said.
“We’ve had a really good response and I think we will keep it going tomorrow as well. The only problem we realised was that a lot of people impacted also have no phone service or internet access.”
The second generation salon owner said during this period he believed it was the biggest companies who have capitalised, so it was important to “support local”.
“That’s not just supporting local businesses, that’s supporting each other and looking after each other,” he said.
“As much as this (period) has hurt me financially, I will bounce back. I went through Covid and bounced back from that. So, you know, a few free hair washers here and there - that’s not gonna bankrupt me.”
The Frontline for Hair owner added: “We’re not here to be millionaires. We’re here to support the locals and put food on the table for our children. We’ve been here for a while, so we’re supported by the locals, and we support the locals in turn.”
Flood warning issued for parts of Gold Coast
A flood warning has been issued for the Gold Coast as heavy rainfall continues to batter parts of the city.
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