Cyclone Alfred is expected to hit early Saturday morning with 4 million people affected between southeast Queensland and upper New South Wales. Video / NZ Herald / AFP
Violent winds toppled trees and power lines, and flash flooding hit the eastern coast of Australia as Cyclone Alfred inched towards Queensland and New South Wales, sparking evacuation orders and leaving more than 70,000 homes without electricity.
New Zealand’s Minister of Foreign Affairs Winston Peters said 60 Urban Search and Rescue personnel would be sent to Queensland in response to the approaching storm.
New Zealanders in Queensland described “unreal” scenes as residents braced for the full impact of the cyclone.
Lauren Cantwell said: “Houses in our suburb have been door-knocked by police and SES and people are being told to leave.”
New Zealand is pleased to shortly be sending more than 60 Urban Search and Rescue personnel to Queensland to support our friends in the response to Tropical Cyclone Alfred. Our thoughts are with all those affected.
Another Kiwi based in Queensland, Mike Hickson, told the Herald “huge crowds” gathered at Coles supermarket to gather essential items before the full impact of the storm hit. He said there was limited “water, bread and cooked food” at the store.
Elsewhere, reports from ABC said emergency services were searching for a man who has been washed into floodwaters in northern NSW.
The man was trapped in floodwaters in his four-wheel drive vehicle at a bridge 23km north-east of Dorrigo. He was able to exit the vehicle and secure himself to a tree branch 30m from the river bank, where police officers found him, ABC reported.
Shortly after 3pm, the man was swept from the tree and was seen going beneath the water and has not been located.
Air New Zealand has cancelled all flights in and out of Brisbane and the Gold Coast today and tomorrow as Tropical Cyclone Alfred nears Australian shores.
Air NZ Chief operational integrity and safety officer Captain David Morgan told the Herald it was too early to determine when flights would resume and that services would only recommence when roads and rail connections to the airports had reopened.
“Customers are advised not to travel to the airport and those impacted have been contacted directly with rebooking options,” Morgan said.
Young men play in sea foam created by record-breaking waves as the outer fringe of Tropical Cyclone Alfred started whipping eastern Australia, in Coolangatta. Photo / AFP
“We also encourage customers to ensure their contact details are up to date in their booking, so we can reach them if needed.
“We understand some customers may no longer wish to travel to or from areas affected by the cyclone, so we are offering additional flexibility for affected customers.
“Customers ticketed to travel to or from Brisbane or the Gold Coast up to and including Sunday, 16 March, have the option to defer travel within seven days of their original booking or place the value of their ticket into credit.”
“Qantas and Jetstar teams continue to closely monitor the cyclone and we are contacting customers directly with any changes to their flights,” a Qantas Group spokesperson said.
“The safety of our customers and people remains our main priority.”
Tropical Cyclone Alfred was 165km east of Brisbane city on Friday morning, crawling towards the densely populated coastline at “walking speed”, government forecasts said.
Some four million people were in the firing line along a 400km stretch of coastline straddling the border of Queensland state and New South Wales.
It is a region rarely troubled by typhoons - it has been more than 50 years since a tropical cyclone made landfall in that part of Queensland.
More than 70,000 homes were without power on Friday morning as damaging winds brought down power lines, news.com.au reported.
Queensland Premier David Crisafulli said the storm already “packed a punch”, warning conditions would get worse as it approached land late on Friday or early Saturday.
Emergency response officials said they had issued evacuation orders for some 10,000 people in the flood-prone northern rivers region of New South Wales.
Record-breaking waves are seen in Coolangatta. Photo / AFP
There was particular concern for the town of Lismore, which was engulfed by record 14m floodwaters after heavy rains in 2022.
Many residents have spent the past three days fortifying their homes with sandbags, tying down loose furniture and stocking up on food and water.
“A lot of people are feeling a bit anxious, for sure, because we don’t know what’s going to happen,” said Paul Farrow from Coolangatta, a coastal suburb better known for its sun-splashed beaches.
“Yeah, we could all lose our houses. Who knows,” the 62-year-old told AFP.
“The pubs might be shut for a week or two. Who knows.”
Farrow said he had stashed a “couple of peaches”, a “couple of cartons of beer”, and “a bag of grapes” to get him through.
“So I’ll be right,” he said.
A police boat looks for a jet ski rider who went missing amid record-breaking waves in Coolangatta. Photo / AFP
‘Prepare for the worst’
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said the region should “hope for the best, but prepare for the worst”.
“When nature does its worst, Australians are at our best. We rally. We lift each other up. We look out for our neighbours,” he told reporters.
Tropical Cyclone Alfred would likely cross the coast “early Saturday morning”, the Bureau of Meteorology said, although its path was becoming difficult to predict.
It was forecast to make landfall about 60km north of Brisbane.
Drenching rains, “destructive” wind gusts, and “abnormally high tides” would pummel the coast as it crept nearer, the bureau said.
More than 900 schools across Queensland state and neighbouring parts of northern New South Wales were closed on Friday, education department officials said.
While cyclones are common in the warm tropical waters lapping Australia’s northern flank, it is rarer for them to form in cooler waters further south.
Alfred would be the first to make landfall in that part of Australia since 1974, the Bureau of Meteorology said.
Researchers have repeatedly warned that climate change amplifies the risk of natural disasters such as bushfires, floods and cyclones.
