For today’s news updates as they happen in Brisbane and beyond, follow us here.
For today’s news updates as they happen in Brisbane and beyond, follow us here.
City workers on the hunt for transistor radios were disappointed on Monday afternoon as retailers had already sold out, while in the suburbs bottled water and batteries were being stripped from supermarket shelves.
Ahead of the possible arrival of Tropical Cyclone Alfred, all three city JB Hi-Fi stores were out of stock, as were Officeworks and Big W.
A sales assistant at JB Hi-Fi’s Albert Street store suggested ordering online from Amazon, with the caveat that delivery ahead of the cyclone might be difficult.
The Bunnings store in Newstead was currently out of battery-operated radios, although larger and more costly items using charging ports were available.
Residents have been advised to have a battery-operated radio on hand to receive updates should internet and electricity go down during the cyclone.
Premier David Crisafulli urged residents to ensure they had bottled water and batteries on hand, prompting a rush on supermarkets on Sunday and Monday.
Bottled water was nearly sold out at Coles in Westfield Carindale and at Woolworths in Kenmore this morning.
Cyclone Alfred is on track to impact areas between Tewantin on Queensland’s Sunshine Coast and Grafton in northern New South Wales, according to the weather bureau’s latest modelling.
Firstly, damaging wind gusts up to 120km/h are expected to hit the region from late Wednesday.
Heavy and “locally intense” rain is expected to follow, with Alfred currently predicted to cross the coast late on Thursday.
“We have currently got a flood watch current four areas from around the Bundaberg area, south to the border, and that includes catchments from the Mary River through the Sunshine Coast rivers, including the Brisbane River catchment and down to our border catchment areas of the Logan and Albert rivers, and including Gold Coast creeks and rivers,” a bureau spokeswoman said.
“This situation continues to be an evolving situation.”
The current modelling shows that Cyclone Alfred will make landfall somewhere between K’gari Island (formerly Fraser Island) and the Queensland-NSW border, with Brisbane in the firing line on Thursday and Friday.
Here is the latest map from the weather bureau, showing Alfred’s predicted path:
“The exact timing, the exact location, the exact intensity, all of those models will differ,” Premier David Crisafulli told reporters this afternoon.
“The one thing that the bureau is telling us consistently is that the likelihood of it crossing the coast remains really high.”
Cyclone Alfred has weakened today and is now a category 1 storm, but the weather bureau expects it will intensify again as it moves closer to the Queensland coast tomorrow.
“In regards to moving, the system is currently moving in a south-easterly direction at 20km/h,” a bureau spokeswoman has told reporters this afternoon.
“It will start to make a westward track towards the Queensland coast during Tuesday morning.”
Cyclone Alfred is expected to cross the coast as a category 2 storm on Thursday or Friday.
“This is certainly an event that doesn’t happen a lot for this part of the state, but it is not unprecedented and I am asking Queenslanders to be ready for it, and history shows it can happen,” Premier David Crisafulli said.
The premier is holding a press conference this afternoon at the Kedron emergency services complex.
“We had a category 1 cyclone in 1990, that was Zoe, that came very close to the coast near the Gold Coast.
“In 1974 we had Zoe which was a category 2 which crossed over Coolangatta, and in 1954, what’s known as ‘The Great Gold Coast Cyclone’ predated the categories, but long-term residents know how severe that system was.
“So we are asking people to do all you can to prepare …
“We are taking this event seriously and asking people to do the same.”
Three cruise ships are sitting off the southern Queensland coast as Cyclone Alfred intensifies.
“I’ve just received some information only in the last couple of minutes,” Premier David Crisafulli told reporters this afternoon.
“Two of those are looking for alternative ports and we will assist them in that. One will be endeavouring to come into the Port of Brisbane and offloading [its] passages. We will do everything we can to assist them in that regard.”
Brisbane City Council has suspended its kerbside collections due to looming Cyclone Alfred.
“Any items on the kerb should be brought in and secured as soon as possible in preparation for damaging winds,” Lord Mayor Adrian Schrinner said.
“We’re currently fast-tracking the collection of any items that remain on the kerb, however, this can’t be guaranteed before conditions worsen.
“While I recognise this will inconvenience people who have already put items out, this is a decision we’ve had to make to keep our community safe.”
Schrinner said kerbside collections would be rescheduled once the full impact of the cyclone became clear.
The council has made it green waste drop-off centres free and opening hours have been extended from 6.30am to 8.45pm.
“A cyclone in Brisbane is something many of us have never experienced before so preparing now is the only way to ensure your home, pets and loved ones stay safe,” Schrinner said.
“I’m urging residents to do whatever they can to get ready now, including cleaning up your yard, trimming trees and securing loose items that can be incredibly dangerous during high winds.”
Cancelled kerbside collections
Suburbs scheduled for kerbside collection this week (from Monday, March 3):
- Hawthorne
- Hemmant
- Lota
- Wynnum
- Lytton
Suburbs scheduled for kerbside next week (from Monday, March 10):
- Belmont
- Chandler
- Gumdale
- Manly
- Ransome
- Wynnum West
Premier David Crisafulli is providing an update on Cyclone Alfred this afternoon.
His first concern is for the residents of Moreton Bay islands.
“Ferry services are continuing at the moment, but that could change in the very near future,” he said.
“So we are asking people who live on those islands to make a conscious decision, because there will come a time where you will have to make that decision to either leave or stay …
“If you are on one of the island communities, your window [to evacuate] will close, possibly in the next day, … [and] your ability to get off [the island] will be taken away from you.”
A research station run by the University of Sydney on the Great Barrier Reef has recorded swells over seven metres on Monday morning, as Tropical Cyclone Alfred approaches the Queensland coast.
One Tree Island Research Station is about 100 kilometres off Gladstone and was recently fitted with two wave buoys, one in a sheltered northern zone, the other on the exposed southeastern zone.
The station’s deputy director, Professor Ana Vila Concejo, said the waves observed on Monday were the largest on record since the team began measuring waves in November 2022 and have probably broken coral along the reef.
“Tropical cyclones can cause widespread damage to coral reefs,” she said.
“Their ability to break coral is enhanced when the corals are fragile, like they are now, because of the mass bleaching event of 2024.”
Managers and researchers were evacuated from One Tree Island on Wednesday.