Millions in Queensland could be without power after Tropical Cyclone Alfred hits

South East Queensland’s four million residents have been told to prepare to be without power for at least three days after Cyclone Alfred makes landfall, as anxious residents stripped grocery store shelves bare of bottled water and other essentials.

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

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South East Queensland’s four million residents have officially been told to prepare to be without power for at least three days after Cyclone Alfred makes landfall later this week.

After Premier David Crisafulli advised Queenslanders to be as prepared as possible, anxious residents stripped grocery store shelves bare of bottled water and other essentials.

Brisbane Lord Mayor Adrian Schrinner, speaking on B105 on Tuesday, warned Brisbane residents to take the cyclone seriously and to be prepared.

“Look, it’s real,” he said.

Mr Schrinner said residents should be prepared for power outages once Tropical Cyclone Alfred arrives.

“There is likely to be multiple power outages if we get the cyclones coming through, and that means, you know, what’s in the fridge, what you’re going to heat, how are you going to deal without power?,” he said.

“To put in perspective, in the 2022 flood, which was obviously a devastating natural disaster, the maximum supply in one day was 37,000. So we’ve had demand that’s been off the charts,” he said.

People waiting in queues with their cars have said they had been in a line at the Morningside sandbagging station since 5am.

At 8.30am, the site ran out of sandbags, with residents told to return in two hours.

Premier Crisafulli said he understood – and even encouraged – people to buy the essentials they might need should water and power be cut for a sustained period after the cyclone hits.

“It is important that people have sufficient food and water and I understand why Queenslanders want to do that, that is important,” Mr Crisafulli said.

He called on the major supermarkets to do what they could to keep their shelves stocked, and both Coles and Woolworths confirmed plans were in place to ensure the stores could be restocked.

Energex regional field delivery general manager Kev Lavender said residents should be prepared to go without power.

‘Flee or be ready for a beating’ as Alfred looms

Island communities in Brisbane’s Moreton Bay have been 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

Mr 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.