Ex-Tropical Cyclone Alfred live updates: South-east Queensland and northern NSW battered by wild storms

Wild footage captured the moment a roof was ripped off a home in a City of Brisbane suburb.

Terrified neighbours filmed gale force winds ripping it off a house at Brighton on Saturday night.

Alfred may have been downgraded to a tropical low, but the hellish weather system has still brought damaging winds, heavy rainfall and flash flooding to south-east Queensland and northern NSW.

Wind gusts up to 100km/h were recorded overnight with significant damage reported in the coastal Brisbane suburb of Redcliffe.

More than 330,000 homes were still without power across south-east Queensland and northern NSW on Sunday.

Some 315,406 people in Queensland are currently impacted, according to Energex.

Of that figure, 112,300 are on the Gold Coast and 50,000 are in Brisbane.

Around 16,000 homes between Tweed Heads and Grafton, in NSW, do not have electricity, according to Essential Energy.

Thousands of locals have been evacuated and many cannot yet return home as the river levels rise.

The weather event turned deadly when the body of 61-year-old Tom Cook was found after a day-long search.

His ute was swept into floodwaters at Megan, about 25km north of Dorrigo on Friday.

He was able to get out of the ute and climb into a tree about 30metres from the riverbank but was swept away before emergency personnel could reach him.

But there are signs of south-east Queensland slowly coming back to life after halting services for Alfred’s arrival.

Public transport, excluding trains and Gold Coast buses, will resume on Sunday while shops, supermarkets and service stations will begin opening on a case-by-case basis

Ferries to Moreton Bay will resume on Sunday for residents stuck on the mainland or the island.

Brisbane and Gold Coast airports are looking to resume flights on Sunday if it is safe to do so.

The threat of a downgraded tropical cyclone is not over as downpours and flooding continue, with more than 200,000 homes without power and over a dozen defence force personnel injured in a truck accident.

Ex-Tropical Cyclone Alfred began moving as a tropical low from Queensland’s Bribie Island, across the coast and inland towards the state’s south-west on Sunday.

But there is more to come, as forecasters expect up to 700mm of rain and destructive gusts to continue through to Monday.

The Bureau of Meteorology has warned of swollen rivers across south-east Queensland and northern NSW leading to flash flooding with more rain looming.

‘Today is all about the rainfall that’s likely to be experienced around south-east Queensland and far north-eastern NSW,’ senior meteorologist Dean Narramore said.

Isolated rainfalls of up to 400mm are expected on Sunday alone with another trough from Central Australia dragging the weather activity inland over northern NSW.

‘By Wednesday, the weather system will finally shift all this wet weather to coastal parts of NSW and clearing mid to late week while south-east Queensland should start to see conditions easing from persistent rainfall on Monday,’ Mr Narramore said.

Major flooding is also expected at the Wilsons River, which runs through Lismore, where the water height is predicted to reach about 10.6m, touching the top of the levee.

Multiple major flood warnings remain in effect for the Tweed, Richmond, Wilsons, Clarence and Bellinger rivers.

Lismore Deputy Mayor Jeri Hall said around 600 people in the region have sought shelter in evacuation centres, adding that all eyes are on the levees possibly overflowing.

‘It is hitting us hard and it was only the flood anniversary a couple of weeks ago so everybody is feeling it,’ she told the ABC on Sunday.

‘We’re still in recovery from 2022. So how long is a piece of string? It really breaks your spirit.

The emergency disaster has also affected those sent to help flood victims with two army trucks crashing south of Lismore on Saturday, injuring more than a dozen people.

NSW Police said in a statement the trucks did not collide with each other.

‘One vehicle left the roadway and rolled several times into a paddock, and a second vehicle tipped onto its side attempting to avoid the first vehicle.’

NSW Premier Chris Minns was concerned to hear of the injuries and said the state’s emergency services would provide all necessary support.

‘They came to the Northern Rivers to help keep this community safe,’ he said.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and Defence Minister Richard Marles said the focus was on the personnel and their families.

‘Our ADF heroes were on their way to help Australians in need,’ they said in a statement.

A man who died in flood waters near Dorrigo in northern NSW has been identified as Tom Cook, 61.

Mr Cook, who was also known as Cookie, lived alone with his dog in Megan, north-east of Dorrigo.

A wide-scale search was launched after his ute was swept off the Wild Cattle Creek Bridge at Megan on Friday.

He managed to get out of the ute and climbed onto a tree near the riverbank, but emergency personnel were unable to reach him before he was swept away.

Police say a man’s body was found nearby about 4.30pm on Saturday.

‘I burst into tears from the shock when I heard what happened to him,’ she said.

‘Just last weekend he came over to say “hey, how are you going?” He was very friendly and always popped out for a chat.’

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said Mr Cook’s death was ‘tragic news’ and that his thoughts were with his loved ones and the local community.

Ex-Tropical Cyclone Alfred has hammered south-east Queensland with cyclonic-strenghth winds overnight despite being downgraded before finally making landfall about 9pm on Saturday.

Wind gusts up to 100km/h were recorded overnight with significant damage reported in the coastal Brisbane suburb of Redcliffe.

A Category 1 cyclone has wind gusts for between 63km/h and 88km/h.

More than 320,000 homes across the south-east of the state have been left without power on Sunday morning.

Two people have been reported injured by falling trees in seperate incidents at Redcliffe and as Lawnton, in the Moreton Bay region, with one taken to hospital.

‘Paramedics have transported a stable patient to the Prince Charles Hospital with minor injuries after a tree reportedly fell onto a house on Francis Road in Lawnton at 7.50pm,’ a Queensland Ambulance Service spokesperson told Brisbane Times.

‘There were three other occupants in the house, but they did not require transport.’

It comes as Brisbane Airport has reopened, but many flights remain cancelled.

All domestic flights due to depart before 7am have been cancelled while almost half of those listed before 8am have also been scrapped.

Gold Coast Aiport is due to reopen this morning while Ballina Airport is open, but has been hit by flight cancellations.

A body has been found during a search for a man who was swept into floodwaters about 25km northeast of Dorrigo, in northern NSW, on Friday.

Emergency services were called to Wild Cattle Creek Bridge after a ute being driven across was swept into floodwaters.

The driver – a 61-year-old man – was able to get out of the ute and climb onto a tree about 30m from the riverbank but emergency personnel were unable to reach the him before he was swept away.

At about 4.30pm on Saturday, the body of a man was found.

While he is yet to be formally identified, it is believed to be that of the missing

The Australian Defence Force has now reported that 13 of its personnel were injured in the crash between two army trucks near Lismore this afternoon.

NSW Ambulance had earlier said 36 people were injured in the crash at Tregeagle.

A spokesperson for Defence said it was 13 injured but there were 36 of its personnel ‘involved’ in the crash.

It’s been reported that three may be seriously injured.

It’s not known how many are in hospital or how the accident happened.

Paramedics were called to reports of the accident in Tregeagle, 9km east of Lismore, at 5.05pm on Saturday.

NSW Ambulance sent out 18 vehicles in response to the call for help.

The ADF gave a statement which confirmed a number of its members were hurt.

‘On Saturday 8 March 2025, there was an incident involving two Australian Defence Force (ADF) vehicles that were providing community support to Lismore following ex-Tropical Cyclone Alfred. A number of ADF personnel have been injured,’ a spokesperson said.

‘The welfare of ADF members and their families is a priority and Defence’s focus is on supporting those involved.

‘Due to the developing nature of the incident, no further information will be available at this time, however Defence will provide further updates when possible.’