Residents have been warned to leave or prepare for the worst, with a tropical cyclone on track to cross a densely populated part of Australia’s coast for the first time in 50 years.
Tropical Cyclone Alfred is looming off Queensland‘s coast, threatening to bring heavy rainfall, damaging winds and monster waves.
It is forecast to cross between Queensland’s K’gari (formerly Fraser Island) and the Gold Coast on Thursday or Friday as a category one or two system.
In Brisbane alone, 20,000 homes are at risk of flooding, with an additional 6,000 homes at risk on the Gold Coast, local council modelling shows.
The suburbs of Brighton, Windsor, Ashgrove, Morningside, Rocklea, Coopers Plains, Carina, Sandgate, Hemmant, Lota, Tingalpa, Indooroopilly, Albion, Bardon and Wynnum West are most at risk.
On the Gold Coast, the suburbs most at risk from Tropical Cyclone Alfred are Surfers Paradise, Paradise Point and Elanora.
Brisbane Lord Mayor Adrian Schrinner urged residents in these areas to evacuate.
‘These 20,000 properties could experience anything from minor inundation in their yards to significant flooding inside homes,’ he said.
A surfer rides a wave amid high swells at Kirra Beach on March 4, 2025 in Gold Coast, Australia
The category two cyclone was last recorded 510km east of Brisbane at 10.45pm on Tuesday
