The third and final stage of the cyclone bearing down on the Queensland coast poses the most threat, Premier David Crisafulli says.
Cyclone Alfred is 550km east of Brisane and is expected to make landfall between the Noosa and Brisbane on Thursday evening or early Friday, triggering destructive winds of up to 130km/h, heavy rainfall and flooding.
The storm is moving towards the densely populated region at 6km/h, is expected to be the first cyclone to impact the area in more than 50 years.
The worst of Alfred’s impact once it makes landfall will hit the state’s southern flank, including Brisbane, the Gold Coast and NSW’s Northern Rivers.
It is predicted to bring days of heavy rainfall and deadly flash floods, with 400mm of rain forecast for Brisbane while the Gold Coast is expected to be hit with 450mm in just three days.
The Queensland Premier addressed the public on Tuesday, and said while the presence of the cyclone was starting to be felt, it will be flooding later in the week that will cause the most havoc.
‘The flooding that comes after a system, particularly on the southern end, is very, very difficult and in many cases it can be the biggest complexity for us to handle,’ Mr Crisafulli said.
‘There are three stages of this significant weather event. The first is big surf and erosion. The second are those damaging winds and the third is significant rain and flooding.
Empty shelves at Woolworths on Bribie Island, Queensland (above and below)
Residents collect sandbags at a depot on Bribie Island
‘We are well and truly in the first phase right now. Overnight we had a reading of a wave over seven metres at North Strandbroke so this is a significant system.’
Premier Crisafuli said schools in impacted areas will be closed on Wednesday, and that a decision was still yet to be made about Thursday.
All beaches from the Sunshine Coast to Byron Bay are now closed, university campuses have been shut down, ferry services have stopped and Gold Coast theme parks are set to shut down from Wednesday as Alfred looms.
It comes as a long wait for sandbags has ended in frustration in an area bracing for Alfred’s direct hit after people were accused of acting like ‘vultures’.
More sandbagging sites have opened across Brisbane as people attempt to safeguard their homes, but local resident Matthew Formosa still couldn’t get his fill.
He tried to get sandbags twice on Monday night but after a 40 minute wait was turned away at the 24-hour depot.
Mr Formosa returned at 5am on Tuesday hoping to beat the rush but still had to wait almost three hours to collect just eight bags.
‘There was no real order in getting the sandbags it is just like, once they have dumped there everyone is like vultures,’ he said.
Cyclone Alfred is expected to make landfall overnight on Thursday
Anxious residents have been queueing at sandbag stations across South East Queensland for hours as they scramble to safeguard their homes
Residents collect sand at a depot on Bribie Island
Mr Formosa was told on Tuesday there was a two-hour wait as sand had run out at the depot.
He criticised the lack of support staff to help the elderly load sandbags into their cars.
‘Seeing older people carrying a bag and struggling, it just has to be an easier way for them to help them out,’ he said.
Millions of residents are being warned to prepare for days without power and minimal access to supplies. As a result, supermarket shelves have been stripped bare in some stores as locals brace for impact, prompting a call for calm.
Bottled water, pasta, rice and canned foods have been stripped from supermarket shelves while there are reports that major Bunnings stores in Brisbane have sold out of torches, jerry cans, generators, power banks and 6V batteries and butane gas.
Premier Crisafuli urged major supermarkets to keep their shelves stocked as best possible while roads remained open and encouraged residents to stock up on essentials before the cyclone hit.
‘There’s access north and south, so we’re asking the supermarkets to do all they can to bring supplies in and refill those shelves,’ he told Today.
Waves crash against a coastal wall in Ballina, northern NSW
Byron Bay’s Main Beach is closed
Both Coles and Woolworths said they were doing everything they could to keep shelves stocked with key items.
‘We have extra deliveries on the roads already, with a focus on boosting our supply of meat, milk, bread, water, canned goods, baby formula and toilet paper,’ a Coles spokesman said.
Fruit and Vegetable manager at Sam Coco Trading in Brisbane, Troy, told Daily Mail Australia people are trying to get their hands on two things.
‘They’re just taking water and toilet paper,’ he said.
‘Since Covid, they just do it. We prepared for it. Covid has made us used to panic buying.
‘It’s clear as a bell at the moment. There’s no sign of the cyclone but they’re all panic buying. It’s pretty much just staples.
‘There’s about to be plenty of water coming from the sky but they’re still buying it.’
Footage showed one supermarket aisle in Ashgrove, Brisbane, completely stripped of goods, prompting anger from some X users.
‘Absolute stupidity. Panic buying on steroids. Went to the shops today and saw the same thing,’ one person posted.
Emergency services, telco providers and Energex crews have bolstered the region.
Meanwhile, NSW’s Northern Rivers is again in the firing line three years after flooding claimed five lives and destroyed homes.
‘Obviously those communities have already gone through massive amounts of flooding in recent years,’ NSW Premier Chris Minns told ABC.
‘This is the last thing that they want to hear but we are asking them to be prepared … for the worst and hope for the best.’
Gold Coast City Council has also closed its beaches
Water bottles are sold out at this supermarket in West End, Brisbane
Cruise ships have been rerouted away from the south-east Queensland coast due to potentially hazardous swells around the Port of Brisbane, while all commercial shipping was directed to evacuate the port on Monday.
Cunard’s Queen Anne and the Norwegian Sun both skipped their scheduled visits to Brisbane. The Norwegian Cruise Line ship has gone straight to Cairns, while Queen Anne sailed to Airlie Beach in North Queensland.
Although Queensland Rail and commuter bus services were still running, CityCat and ferry services on the Brisbane River have already been suspended.
Private businesses throughout Queensland’s south-east were also making plans on whether to remain open or batten down the hatches.
Pubs and clubs in and around the Queensland capital are still operating but that was expected to change in the coming days.
‘We’re still not 100 per cent about what we’re doing. We’re still working on a plan,’ Story Bridge Hotel duty manager Tom told Daily Mail Australia.
Village Roadshow told Daily Mail Australia it would close Warner Bros. Movie World, Sea World, Wet’n’Wild, Paradise Country, Australian Outback Spectacular and Topgolf between Wednesday and Friday.
The theme parks are expected to reopen on Saturday, with a decision to be made later in the week.
The AFL announced on Tuesday that its scheduled season-opening game between Brisbane and Geelong on Thursday has been postponed, as had Saturday’s game between Gold Coast and Essendon.
The games would be played later in the season, at a yet-to-be-determined date.
Cyclone Alfred is expected to drop 1m of rain as it hits between Noosa and Brisbane
‘Out of an abundance of caution and after ongoing communication with the Queensland Government, the Bureau of Meteorology and Stadiums Queensland, the AFL made the decision now to ensure the health and safety of clubs, players, officials and – importantly – the wider southeastern Queensland and northern NSW community remains the priority,’ the AFL said in a statement.
In the NRL, the Dolphins host South Sydney on Friday night at Suncorp Stadium and so far the match is going ahead.
The NRL is monitoring the situation closely and Souths are looking to fly up to Brisbane on Wednesday instead of Thursday and get there before the cyclone hits.
