Southeast Queensland braces for Tropical Cyclone Alfred’s 600mm deluge

Residents between the Sunshine and Gold coasts have been warned as Tropical Cyclone Alfred moves closer to Queensland, threatening destructive wind, waves and ‘intense’ rainfall.

Tropical Cyclone Alfred is expected to cross the southeast Queensland coast at the end of the week. Picture: News Corp

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Millions of residents across southeast Queensland have been told to prepare for the likelihood of a direct hit by Tropical Cyclone ­Alfred later this week, with island communities in Brisbane’s Moreton Bay given until Tuesday evening to leave or batten down.

The cyclone is predicted to make landfall as a category-2 system on Thursday evening or Friday morning, somewhere between the Sunshine Coast and Brisbane.

On Monday, low-lying communities on Russell, Macleay, Karragarra and Lamb islands were told to consider how they would respond to the threat before ferry and barge services are stopped ahead of the cyclone.

The weather system hovered 450km northeast of Brisbane around midday on Monday as a category-1 system but is expected to intensify before making landfall.

The estimated four million southeast Queensland residents in the firing line face the prospect of destructive winds and 600mm of rain in just a few days.

It is expected to be the worst cyclone to hit the region in 70 years, after the “Great Gold Coast Cyclone” of 1954, which killed more than 24 people, according to Weatherwatch managing director Anthony Cornelius.

“If we’re looking back, what was the last comparable event? It’s definitely hard to find,” he said. “But this could be one of the worst ones since night the 1954 … and in saying that the 1954 system will probably be worse than this.”

As preparations began for the cyclone to arrive, the Moreton Bay Islands and Golden Beach, at the southern end of the Sunshine Coast, were identified as two areas of particular concern.

Queensland Premier David Crisafulli at the Kedron Emergency Services to discuss the cyclone. Picture: NewsWire / John Gass

Premier David Crisafulli urged residents in those areas to begin planning “with earnestness”.

“If you’re on one of the island communities, your window (to evacuate) will close, possibly in the next day or so, because your ability to get off it will be taken away from you,” he said. “We’re dealing with a very heavily populated part of the state. So it is important that Queenslanders absorb those messages.”

Generators have been taken to the island and healthcare workers have been deployed to assist those who plan to stay. The erosion of sandbars between Bribie Island, north of Brisbane, and the mainland has reduced protection for properties at Golden Beach.

Locals flocked to sandbagging stations as Cyclone Alfred approaches the Gold Coast. The Reedy Creek depot staff worked tirelessly but people had a two hour wait and the queue snaked around the surrounding streets. Picture Glenn Hampson

Meteorologist Sue Oates said destructive winds and rain would likely begin from Wednesday afternoon.

A cyclone “watch zone” was active from K’Gari (Fraser Island) to Grafton, in northern NSW, on Monday evening.

Water management authority SEQWater confirmed there were no immediate pre-emptive releases planned from the Wivenhoe or Somerset dams, despite the grid being 84.6 per cent full.

Wivenhoe is used as the major flood mitigator for Brisbane.

Some supermarket shelves have been stripped of water and other essentials in Brisbane’s suburbs, with Mr Crisafulli urging people to buy only what they need.

“You should be prepared to be without power and should prepare to have your bottled water and you should have your spare batteries, spare charger for your phone, you should have batteries for a radio, you should have all your documents in one location,” he said.

Locals flocked to sandbagging stations as Cyclone Alfred approaches the Gold Coast. The Reedy Creek depot staff were busy and people had a two-hour wait and the queue snaked around the surrounding streets. Picture Glenn Hampson

It is unclear whether the AFL game between the Brisbane Lions and Geelong at Brisbane’s Gabba Stadium on Thursday night will go ahead. American rock band Green Day’s show at Gold Coast’s Cbus Stadium on Wednesday might be affected.

One of three cruise ships due to arrive in Brisbane in the coming days will attempt to dock, while the other two will continue to an alternate location. The Brisbane City Council will suspend ferry services along the Brisbane River starting Tuesday.