With all eyes on Tropical Cyclone Alfred as it continues to move down the Queensland coast, the Bureau of Meteorology has released its latest tracking map.
With all eyes on Tropical Cyclone Alfred as it continues to move down the Queensland coast, the Bureau of Meteorology has released its latest tracking map.
- Updated
- National
- Queensland
- Extreme weather
By Cameron Atfield
Updated March 3, 2025 — 10.32amfirst published at 9.06am
Brisbane residents are being warned to prepare for a rare direct hit from Tropical Cyclone Alfred.
The category 2 storm was about 465 kilometres north-east of Brisbane on Monday morning, and moving south about 10km/h.
The cyclone is expected to cross between the Sunshine Coast and Brisbane on Thursday as a category 1 or 2 system.
The last tropical cyclone to cross the south-east Queensland coast was Zoe in 1974.
Bureau of Meteorology senior meteorologist Jonathan How said it would be challenging even for a region well-versed in wild weather.
“Typically, south-east Queensland does see these very strong winds, but these come from thunderstorms, which are quite isolated and quite short-duration wind gusts,” he said.
“We will start to see these very strong, damaging to locally destructive winds over quite a long period of time, which can cause trees to come down, as well as property damage, and this will be later in the week as the tropical cyclone gets closer towards the coast.”
How said the heavy rainfall was expected to result in “dangerous and life-threatening flash flooding” along with a dangerous storm surge as the cyclone drew near, with the added threat of widespread flooding.
Alfred was downgraded to category 1 on Sunday, but as of Monday morning had strengthened to a category 2.
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“We are seeing sustained winds near the centre of the cyclone of 95 kilometres an hour, and wind gusts to 130 kilometres an hour,” How said.
How said there were weather warnings for both south-east Queensland and north-east NSW.
“That’s for strong to gale-force winds and we’ll see those strong winds extending down to even the mid-north coast of New South Wales over the next few days,” he said.
“That is for very strong winds over the coast and also further offshore as well.
“There is also a coastal hazard warning for parts of the Queensland coast. That is for very powerful waves, which we have been seeing over the weekend, as well as a normally high tides.”
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said funding support would be made available to Queensland.
“We hope of course for the best outcome possible, but we will stand with Queenslanders at this difficult time and we will continue to provide support just as we have for the impact of the floods that have had a devastating impact in North Queensland as well,” he said.
Premier David Crisafulli said given that millions of Queenslanders were potentially in the firing line, it was vital for the south-east to prepare.
“It’s not impossible, it is unusual, and it’s important that people be ready for it,” he told ABC Radio on Monday.
On Sunday, the premier said he was in touch with telco providers to ensure there was enough bandwidth to communicate with residents, while emergency services, such as the Queensland Fire Department’s swift water rescue teams, were already pre-deploying.
Brisbane Lord Mayor Adrian Schrinner said he had convened the council’s local disaster management group to ensure Brisbane was prepared.
“A cyclone in Brisbane is something many of us have never experienced before, so getting prepared now is the only way to ensure your home, pets and loved ones stay safe,” he said.
Schrinner urged residents to do whatever they could now to prepare by cleaning up yards, trimming branches and securing loose items.
“I’ve also asked council to ensure green waste tipping to our four resource recovery centres is free until further notice to help residents prepare,” he said.
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Acting Police Commissioner Shane Chelepy, on just his second day in the role, said emergency services would take advantage of the next couple of days to prepare for the cyclone’s arrival.
“Low-lying areas across the coast – particularly in the south-east corner – that have not experienced these sorts of winds or waves for some considerable time are of most concern,” he said.
“We’ve asked our local government areas to ensure we have clear messaging and plans for those in those low-lying areas to be able to action.”
Chelepy said residents on some Moreton Bay islands should take particular note of warnings.
“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 and head towards the Queensland coast,” he said.
In 1974, category 2 Tropical Cyclone Zoe crossed the coast at Coolangatta, resulting in the catastrophic Brisbane floods.
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