Cyclone Alfred LIVE updates: BoM warn storm could become category 3 as south-east Queensland, northern NSW residents continue to brace for direct hit​on March 5, 2025 at 9:05 am

In case you are just joining us, here are the latest developments on Cyclone Alfred:

• People have begun fleeing their homes in south-east Queensland as Cyclone Alfred barrels towards the south-east Queensland coast.
• Time is running out for millions of people across the danger zone in Queensland and northern NSW to prepare for Alfred’s arrival, with the cyclone’s “gale radius” now very close to Cape Byron and Coolangatta.

• The cyclone is expected to make landfall as a category 2 system late on Thursday night, or in the early hours of Friday morning.
• It is forecast to cross the coast somewhere between Caboolture on Brisbane’s northern fringe, and Tweed Heads on the Queensland-NSW border.
• About 20,000 properties in the south-east corner are at risk of flooding.
• Brisbane will soon come to a standstill, with schools, public transport and major roads to close from today. Residents have been told to bunker down from 6pm Wednesday, and stay at home on Thursday and Friday.
• Residents in low-lying parts of north-east NSW are being urged to brace for “three natural disaster events in one”. More than 120 schools northern NSW have been closed, evacuation centres have been established and flights have been cancelled, with recovery planning for the looming destruction under way.
• Alfred is expected to dump almost half a year’s worth of rain over Brisbane in just 24 hours. For context, Brisbane’s historic 1974 floods were the result of Cyclone Wanda which dumped 642 millimetres of rain over the city in three days.

Read our guide on how to prepare for Cyclone Alfred, here.

Gold Coast residents were told to bunker down from 6pm tonight. Some residents, including this couple with a newborn baby, have sought refuge at evacuation centres.

While it might feel calm in Brisbane right now, Bureau of Meteorology senior meteorologist Jonathan How said by this time tomorrow, things will feel very different.

“A lot of people [in south-east Queensland and northern NSW] probably haven’t experienced a direct cyclone crossing before,” he said.

“The winds will really start to howl, buildings will rattle and there will be damage to windows from tomorrow night.”

How said strong, sustained winds are expected from about this time Thursday evening and warned people not to venture outside during the calm of the eye.

“The second half of the cyclone crosses after that.”

Cyclone Alfred is currently predicted to be a category 2 storm with winds of up to 135km/h. There’s a small chance it could be upgraded to a category 3 before it crosses the coast.

The Gold Coast could be one of the hardest-hit regions and as residents make their final preparations, three evacuation centres have now been opened:

• Runaway Bay Indoor Stadium – Sports Drive, Runaway Bay
• Nerang Bicentennial Community Centre – 833 Southport Nerang Road, Nerang
• Burleigh Waters Community Centre – 111 Christine Avenue, Burleigh Waters

Gold Coast residents were told to bunker down from 6pm tonight.

The City of Gold Coast has advised people to take shelter now, with destructive wind gusts of 120km/h and significant flooding forecast to begin tonight.

Meanwhile, Brisbane City Council will open a temporary cyclone shelter at the RNA Showgrounds from 7am on Thursday.

Lord Mayor Adrian Schrinner encouraged individuals to consider staying with friends and family in the first instance as the RNA Showgrounds shelter will be basic.

“We’ve modelled this on what’s been used up in Far North Queensland for many years,” he said.

“It’s a building that is very safe and secure and strong … [but] it’s pretty rough and ready.”

The lord mayor said flood evacuations would be activated as well, but warned they are not cyclone-rated.

“There’s a clear difference between the two … where we normally activate those flood evacuation centres, not all of the centres are … suitable places to shelter from a cyclone.”

For more information, visit Brisbane City Council’s emergency dashboard.

The Brisbane City Council says residents will no longer be able to get sandbags from its depots after 8pm tonight, citing safety concerns.

“Since Friday more than 400,000 sandbags have been collected or filled from our five depots and seven temporary sandbag facilities,” the council said in a statement.

“This is more than double the number of sandbags taken during the 2022 flood event.”

Brisbane’s four resource recovery centres at Chandler, Ferny Grove, Nudgee and Willawong, where people have been taking their green waste, will also close at 8.45pm.

Community Facebook groups have been flooded with questions today about whether Westfield shopping centres will open up their car parks to allow residents to park their vehicles undercover, away from flying debris and falling trees.

This masthead approached Westfield owner Scentre Group multiple times, but received no response to questions about whether it would open its car parks to the public.

In a statement, a spokesperson commented on centre trading hours, saying shopping centres would remain open as per usual until further notice.

“The safety and welfare of our customers, business partners and people is our highest priority.

“We are following the guidance from the Queensland government and local authorities.

“At this stage, there are no changes to our trading hours.”

The lack of direction from Westfield about car parking at its centres has frustrated residents, with one Facebook user saying: “That’s the spirit – don’t help your community.”

Meanwhile, Pacific Fair on the Gold Coast will close tonight, with its car parks closed to the public.

Rochedale Village on Brisbane’s southside will close at 11am tomorrow.

Post offices are closing and mail will not be delivered until further notice as Cyclone Alfred closes in on Brisbane.

Australia Post confirmed it will pause “all deliveries, parcel pick-ups and mail processing” in south-east Queensland from midnight tonight.

“Extreme weather conditions in south-east Queensland and northern NSW are expected to impact our mail and parcel networks and result in delivery delays,” a spokesperson said.

“Post offices in this region will be closed … the safety of our people and the community is our priority.

“We’ll resume normal operations as soon as it is safe to do so, and will keep the community informed.”

The decision was made this afternoon, with a representative telling this masthead about midday a decision had not been made.

GP clinics across Brisbane are preparing to close their doors tomorrow, creating another challenge for residents amid Cyclone Alfred.

However, Queensland Health has confirmed specialist clinicians will be running its ‘Virtual Emergency Care Service’ 24 hours a day from tomorrow to provide care to those who may be unable to access an emergency department.

“While anyone presenting to our hospitals will always be seen, we encourage people in the
areas expected to be impacted to avoid travel if possible,” a spokesperson for Queensland Health said.

“We are in contact with vulnerable patients to provide necessary support if they are
prevented from accessing one of our hospitals or facilities.”

On-site accommodation is being provided to clinicians in Brisbane hospitals who may be unable to travel to and from work over the coming days to ensure patient care is not disrupted and that patients are only discharged if it is clinically safe to do so.

Despite the long lines, SES volunteers at the Caloundra sandbag collection point said community spirit remained high today.

“There’s been a lot of people looking out for each other – really good community spirit,” Caloundra SES group leader Caroline Warren-Smith said.

Warren-Smith said the SES depot would keep its bagging station open well into the night.

“People were lined up from 6.30am this morning,” she said.

Another volunteer, who asked to be named only as Cameron, said he had fallen asleep still wearing his uniform several nights this week.

“Every night I finish, and I go home and I’m that [tired], I’m like, ‘I’ll just go into my room’ and then I’m [asleep],” he said.

The Gold Coast’s major shopping centre Pacific Fair will close on Thursday and Friday.

Supermarkets at Pacific Fair will remain open until 10pm tonight for residents to gather food and other essential items.

Pacific Fair car parks will also be closed until they reopen.

Wild surf has closed beaches along the Sunshine Coast, with surf life saving clubs and bistros closing theirs doors from tomorrow.

Surf Life Saving Queensland has issued blanket closures across the Sunshine Coast, telling ABC this morning it expected the closures to last for the rest of the week.

Surf clubs had begun sandbagging lower levels this afternoon, but continued serving customers for the remainder of the day.

Meanwhile, on the Gold Coast, not all surfers heeded the warnings to stay on shore.