Millions of Aussies are bracing for severe gale-force winds, daily rainfall totals of up to 600m, major flooding and huge tides with Tropical Cyclone Alfred set to make landfall within days.
New modelling has predicted the cyclone is expected to hit Brisbane on Thursday as it slams ashore and creates havoc in south-east Queensland and north-east NSW.
Premier David Crisafulli has warned residents in the region to prepare for the worst and do ‘everything they can’ to stock up on supplies before the cyclone makes landfall..
Thomas Hinterdorfer, of Higgins Storm Chasing told Daily Mail Australia that the last time a tropical cyclone made landfall as a categorised system in south-eastern Queensland was in March 1992.
That one, Severe Tropical Cyclone Fran, led to beaches being closed on the Gold Coast and Sunshine coasts, and train services cancelled in Brisbane.
Across the state, coastal towns were flooded, trees were uprooted and power was knocked out.
Thirty-three years on, Queenslanders hope history won’t be repeated, but lifeguards have already closed dozens of beaches from Agnes Water in Gladstone down to Currumbin on the Gold Coast on Sunday in anticipation.
The state has been battered by high winds and massive wave swells over the past few days, with Great Keppel Island’s Hideaway resort evacuated last Thursday.
Millions of people are bracing for severe gale-force winds, heavy rain and huge tides as Tropical Cyclone Alfred is set to make landfall (pictured: Townsville in recent weeks)
The cyclone is headed for Brisbane on Thursday as it slams ashore and creates havoc in south-east Queensland and north-east NSW. Picture: Higgins Storm Chasers
The category two system, which has been producing wind gusts of 220km/h in the Coral Sea, is forecast to move southward ‘roughly parallel’ to the Queensland coast on Sunday, before moving to the south-east on Monday.
‘Alfred is then expected to slow down and is likely to turn westward from Tuesday, moving back towards the southern Queensland coast,’ the Bureau of Meteorology said.
As of Sunday morning, Alfred was moving over the Coral Sea about 510km east of Rockhampton and is expected to cause strong to gale-force winds around K’gari (Fraser Island) in the afternoon.
‘Severe coastal hazards are likely for southern Queensland and north-east New South Wales,’ the bureau said.
‘A large and powerful to potentially damaging easterly swell as well as abnormally high tides are forecast about exposed southern Queensland beaches, possibly extending to northern New South Wales from Monday.’
Residents is south-east Queensland have been urged to prepare.
‘There is a real chance of … the cyclone crossing the coast in the southern part of the state,’ Premier Crisafulli said.
‘This is not a frequent occurrence and there may be Queenslanders who can be forgiven for thinking that this is something that doesn’t occur.
‘Well, history shows that it does.
‘That’s why we are taking that precautionary approach and asking people to do everything you can to get ready, things like making sure that you’ve got tinned food.’
Authorities are also preparing for the worst scenario.
‘We’ve spoken to those telcos about making sure that they have back-up power sources if we were to lose power, for example, because we have seen in previous events, how critical telecommunications is and how vulnerable some of those towers are to a lack of power,’ Premier Crisafulli said.
‘The Queensland Fire Department is in the process of pre deploying some assets, and making sure that we have the best and brightest ready to respond, and I talk about teams like the swift water rescue team, but indeed, all of those officers.’
Bribie, Moreton and North and South Stradbroke islands are expected to cop the brunt of the cyclone first.
‘It’s these islands that present a risk to the disaster management system, and as a result of asking our local government, our district disaster teams, to do specific planning around the islands,’ Acting Police Commissioner Shane Chelepy said.
‘To those communities on the islands, I ask you to stay in contact early with the messaging, because I ask you to think about the risk for you and make a decision as to whether or not you should leave those islands and when you should leave those islands, because that window to leave the island will close later in the week, should this system turn west.’
Mr Hinterdorfer said the models they were using suggested Alfred would track west to Queensland throughout the week.
‘Nothing before Tuesday says a landfall is expected, but then from Wednesday onwards, it gets a little bit more interesting with the model scenarios as they’re currently playing out,’ he told the Courier-Mail.
‘There’s definitely the possibility of it from probably Wednesday onwards or midweek onwards, several models have that scenario at the moment, but of course, we need to let them play out a little bit more just before we hard lock it.’
A Bureau of Meteorology weather map shows with south-east Queensland and north-east NSW is in for in the coming days
Queensland has been battered by high winds and massive wave swells over the past few days, with Great Keppel Island’s Hideaway resort evacuated last Thursday. BoM map pictured
North Queensland has been hammered by wild weather this year, with winds and heavy rain wreaking havoc earlier this month (pictured: Townsville on February 10)
On Sunday morning, Mr Hinterdorfer warned south-east Queensland and north-east NSW residents to be prepared for landfall.
‘It’s been 33 years since a tropical cyclone has made landfall as a categorised system in south-eastern Queensland,’ he wrote on Facebook.
‘And it looks like that streak or drought is about to come to an end … all model guidance continues to suggest that Tropical Cyclone Alfred is forecast to make landfall over south-east Queensland next week.’
The Bureau of Meteorology encouraged residents and communities on the Queensland and northern NSW coasts to stay informed with the latest tropical cyclone information and forecast tracks on its website in the coming days.
Queensland’s south-east is forecast to be lashed with 150mm of rain if Alfred makes landfall as expected.
The Gold Coast is expected to see more than 200mm over the coming days.
