Gold Coast balcony implodes under Cyclone Alfred onslaught

An apartment block in Broadbeach has been rocked by a large portion of the third floor balcony imploding, sending glass and debris flying inwards.

King Tide apartments resident Lincoln, 14, inspecting the damage caused by Cyclone Alfred’s Friday night blast to the Gold Coast.

An apartment block in Broadbeach has been rocked by a large portion of the third floor balcony imploding, sending glass and debris flying inwards.

Multiple residents recall hearing a “loud crash and glass shattering” at around 10:30pm on Friday night at the King Tide apartment during the chaos stirred up by Cyclone Alfred.

With the cyclone at that point closing in on the mainland just north of Brisbane, residents were feeling the effects of its southern tip and took to their phones to communicate the incident. One resident received a call telling them to “look out of your window, the balcony is gone”.

Chloe Pereiro who lives directly underneath the balcony, said: “I haven’t slept all night. I heard everything.

“Around 10:30pm I heard glass breaking. I’m all alone in the apartment, I’m usually with my partner but of course this week he is on a business trip so I was all alone.

“I made myself a little bed in the middle of the corridor to get through the night.“

This was the sight residents were greeted with when they emerged from their apartments.

A window left open was the suspected culprit for the implosion and although no one required medical attention resident Bianca said the inhabitants of affected apartments were still residing inside despite offers from the Fire Department to be evacuated to emergency shelter.

“Everyone up there is still in there, they didn’t leave,” Bianca said. “The firies came and they were looking around and I think they offered [those residents] to leave and go to a shelter but they’re still up there.”

The ground underneath the balcony was loosely taped off and scattered with glass, bits of metal and brick.

“The real estate people didn’t even know about it,” said one resident.

“They learnt about it off social media.”

The suburb of Broadbeach was hard hit by the cyclone effects. Nearby Kurrawa Park had several large trees uprooted and in the neighboring Talisman apartments one unit window had been smashed and completely boarded up with plywood.

King Tide apartments resident Lincoln, 14, surveys the after-effects of Cyclone Alfred closing in on Friday night.

Originally published as Gold Coast balcony implodes under Cyclone Alfred onslaught