Cyclone Alfred: Modelling of landfall firms, as island residents consider evacuation

Modelling showing Cyclone Alfred crossing the south-east Queensland coast has firmed, prompting a simple message from Premier David Crisafulli: “Now’s the time to prepare.”

Providing an update at the Emergency Services complex at Kedron, Crisafulli said the cyclone was expected to hit anywhere between Bundaberg and the border.

“You don’t have the chance to prepare in the [last] remaining few hours. Now’s the time to do all those little things that make a big difference at the pointy end of that system,” he said.

Crisafulli said people should prepare to be without power and water supply, and have batteries for a radio.

As for reports of panic buying, the premier said there was no harm in preparing for the worst and then not needing what was bought.

“The message to the supermarkets is restock the shelves as much as you can, and to Queenslanders it’s heed the warning and buy what you need,” he said.

“It is important that people have sufficient food and water and I understand why Queenslanders want to do that. That’s important and it’s important for the supermarkets to do their bit as well.”

Residents collect sandbags from a council depot in Morningside on Monday.Credit: Dan Peled

The category 2 storm was about 465 kilometres north-east of Brisbane early Monday, and moving south about 10km/h.

By about 1pm, it was a category 1 storm about 450 kilometres north-east of Brisbane and moving south-east about 20 km/h.

“We are expecting a recurvature of Tropical Cyclone Alfred in the next 24 hours, in which it will start to make a westward track towards the Queensland coast during Tuesday morning,” Bureau of Meteorology meteorologist Sue Oates said.

“There’s also signs that Tropical Cyclone Alfred can reintensify, and we are expecting a category 2 system heading towards the coast with more confidence of a likely coastal crossing of TC Alfred later into the week, and that looks most likely Thursday or Friday.”

As residents prepare to sandbag their properties, the lord mayor said kerbside collections had also been suspended.Credit: Dan Peled

The most at-risk communities were island and bay communities in the south-east, with residents there urged to consider evacuating while it was still an option.

The last tropical cyclone to cross the south-east Queensland coast was Zoe in 1974.

All Brisbane CityCat and ferry services will be suspended until further notice, with Monday night’s services the last before Alfred’s arrival.

Brisbane Lord Mayor Adrian Schrinner said kerbside collections had also been suspended and any items left outside should be brought in and secured.

“Green waste drop-off will continue to be free at our Resource Recovery Centres and I’ve asked council to extend opening hours from 6.30am to 8.45pm to help people prepare their properties,” he said.

Acting Gold Coast Mayor Donna Gates said sandbagging stations had been open on Friday and Saturday, but barely anyone showed up. On Monday, there were queues at the Pimpama, Bilinga and Burleigh Heads distribution points.

“We urged people to go and get ready, but it didn’t happen,” she said.

“Unfortunately, the media didn’t produce the indication of where they were and when they were open, so we only had about 30 presentations on Friday and Saturday, and today there’s great long queues.”

Residents in high-rise buildings were urged to remove furniture from outdoor balconies, while low-rise residents were urged to secure outdoor furniture and clear out their gutters.

Gates said she had spoken to Gold Coast Mayor Tom Tate, who had travelled to Las Vegas for the NRL season opener in a bid to poach Magic Round from Brisbane.

“He’s looking at getting back as quickly as he possibly can, due to the conditions,” she said.

Earlier on Monday, senior BOM meteorologist Jonathan How said it would be challenging even for a region well-versed in wild weather.

“We will start to see these very strong, damaging to locally destructive winds over quite a long period of time, which can cause trees to come down, as well as property damage, and this will be later in the week as the tropical cyclone gets closer towards the coast.”

How said the heavy rainfall was expected to result in “dangerous and life-threatening flash flooding” along with a dangerous storm surge as the cyclone drew near, with the added threat of widespread flooding.

Alfred was downgraded to category 1 on Sunday, but as of Monday morning had strengthened to a category 2.

“We are seeing sustained winds near the centre of the cyclone of 95 kilometres an hour, and wind gusts to 130 kilometres an hour,” How said.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said funding support would be made available to Queensland.

“We hope of course for the best outcome possible, but we will stand with Queenslanders at this difficult time and we will continue to provide support just as we have for the impact of the floods that have had a devastating impact in North Queensland as well,” he said.

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