Millions go deep into the danger zone as Cyclone Alfred cuts power, phones

Brisbane’s 2.5 million residents have been urged to ‘take shelter now’ as Cyclone Alfred bears down.

A large gum tree crashed into a Currumbin Valley home at the Gold Coast on Friday after strong winds ahead of Tropical Cyclone Alfred: Picture: Queensland Ambulance Service/Facebook.

Brisbane’s 2.5 million residents have been urged to “take shelter now” as Cyclone Alfred bears down, cutting off hundreds of thousands of people from their power and phones.

The system, which weakened to a category-1 cyclone, roared over Moreton and North Stradbroke islands at about 1am local time Saturday (2am AEDT).

Alfred’s centre was hovering over Moreton Bay before dawn on Saturday, with the system stalling just as it approached the coast.

Brisbane City Council issued an emergency warning late Friday urging residents to immediately take shelter in the “strongest, safest part of the building you are in”.

More than 225,000 homes and businesses were without electricity on Saturday morning, and thousands more have lost their landline and mobile phone connections after vicious winds knocked trees into powerlines and cut access to telecommunications towers, as the outer band of the cyclone struck the coastline on Friday.

Thousands of people have ­already been forced from their homes in northern NSW, and eight people had to be rescued from floodwaters, amid heavy rain pounding the region.

The destructive southern edge of Cyclone Alfred has shut down water pump stations on the Tweed Coast, forcing local authorities to issue an ominous warning to residents to limit water use as the ­community risks running out of drinking water within days.

A yacht, swept away by the waves, rests at Point Danger on the southern end of the Gold Coast on Friday. Picture: AFP

There are hopes the slow-­moving system’s power will lessen after it makes landfall – with “damaging” gales of about 100km/h predicted for Brisbane – and hover over the city and its surrounds for hours on Saturday.

The Bureau of Meteorology predicts Alfred will cause flooding rain over the region into next week, with both flash flooding and rivers and creeks breaking their banks representing a “major ­concern”.

Alfred is predicted to dump ­between 300mm and 500mm daily across the region, and in some parts possibly exceeding 800mm for the duration of the natural disaster.

A lifeguard tower on Main Beach at the Gold Coast. Picture: Glenn Hampson

Optus has lost access to 45 of its mobile phone towers due to ­blackouts, and Telstra is encouraging customers to use payphones to stay connected.

Brisbane mayor Adrian Schrinner said on Friday Cyclone Alfred was not being overhyped and the city could be drenched by 700mm of rain in a matter of days.

“Saturday is the danger zone, in particular when it comes to flash flooding,” Mr Schrinner said.

A large gum tree crashed into a Currumbin Valley, Gold Coast, home on Friday due to strong winds ahead of Tropical Cyclone Alfred. Picture: Queensland Ambulance Service/Facebook

Bureau of Meteorology forecaster Matt Collopy said flooding was a “major concern” that was predicted to last for days.

“We are particularly concerned about the flood risk, and that risk extends beyond the cyclone crossing … through the weekend and into next week,” Mr Collopy said.

But the risk of an “extreme” storm surge of one metre above high tide has been revised down, to about 0.5m on the Gold Coast and 0.7m in Redlands.

Already, Springbrook on the Gold Coast hinterland had received about 200mm of rain in 24 hours.

On the Gold Coast, a couple had to be chainsawed out of their Currumbin Valley home after a large gum tree crashed into their bedroom, while another woman in her 70s was injured when a tree crushed part of her Mudgeeraba roof on Friday morning.

Firefighters freed the trapped man in his 60s and the woman in her 50s, who were hospitalised with minor chest injuries and cuts.

Lismore prepared for the expected deluge from Cyclone Alfred by closing low-lying areas. Picture: NewsWire / Glenn Campbell

In Lismore – where emergency evacuation orders have forced people out of their homes again, three years after devastating flooding – mayor Steve Krieg said residents had been left behind by insurers, adding to the region’s rising anxiety.

“Basically all the insurance companies abandoned Lismore after the 2022 flood,” Mr Krieg said. “So we might have fire and storm cover, but no one in town has got flood cover. When you sit here after being evacuated, all you’ve got is time to think about things, that’s when the stresses and the anxiety starts for sure.”

Alarmingly high numbers of homes are unlikely to be insured for Cyclone Alfred’s destruction, due to unaffordable premiums or loopholes that exclude storm and tidal surge from flood cover.

The Insurance Council of Australia said 77 per cent of homes at the highest risk of flooding were not insured for flood, and that not all flood cover included damage from storm surge.

Central Queensland University environment geographer Steve Turton warned people not to go outside on Saturday when the wind first dropped, because the calm “eye” of the storm could take “several hours” to pass.

“There’s an area in the middle where the wind will be dropped way down, the sky will brighten up and people might wander out and do silly things,” Professor Turton said.

Belgian tourist Robin Pakuszewski, whose flight was cancelled, was expecting to have to stay in his van through the cyclone in Brisbane. Picture: Annette Dew

Cyclone Alfred’s long, slow march towards the Queensland coastline has been blamed on the fact it is caught in the middle of a tug of war between two rival steering currents in the atmosphere.

The combination of weather systems has caused Cyclone Alfred to perform slow midnight doughnuts.

On Thursday and Friday mornings, residents in the path of the cyclone woke up to discover Alfred’s progress had stalled because it had moved in a circle overnight instead of heading straight for the east coast of Australia.

Professor Turton said it was not unusual for cyclones to “wobble along their track” because they were affected by atmospheric winds steering the storms in different directions.