The latest reports by the Bureau of Meteorology about Tropical Cyclone Alfred revealed that the weather system has slowed down and will make landfall much later than initially predicted.
Originally, experts believed that the cyclone would hit Queensland’s southeast coast on Thursday afternoon. However, now the category two cyclone is moving at seven kilometres per hour, expected to cross the coast on Friday, most likely between Maroochydore and Coolangatta.
As the cyclone approaches, thousands of people have been urged by authorities to evacuate, including those in north-east NSW.
“We’re asking people, there’s 10,000 dwellings in these areas, to really start to prepare and to evacuate,” NSW SES Deputy Commissioner Deb Platz told Today, noting that 10,000 homes could face the impact of the destructive weather.
“We need people to evacuate before the winds commence. It will be too late after the winds really pick up, so please start to plan and relocate to family and friends wherever possible.”
The SES has issued flood evacuation warnings to residents in areas including Ballina, Tweed Heads, South Golden Beach, Pottsville and Hastings Point. Meanwhile, the BOM has declared Double Island Point in Queensland to Grafton in New South Wales, including Brisbane, Gold Coast, Sunshine Coast, Byron Bay and Ballina to be in the warning zone.
As the cyclone approaches, Queensland’s southeast and areas of northern NSW have begun to take protective measures, with schools, elective surgeries, public transports, airports and major roads shutting down or closing on Thursday.
Meanwhile, according to ABC, more than 4,300 people on the NSW north coast have lost power with no indication of when it will return.
The National Emergency Mangement Agency is set to convene today to discuss steps forward, according to Federal Emergency Manegement Minister Jenny McAlister.
“We’ll be jointly funding additional assistance for 12 councils in this area so they can proceed with confidence in the clean-up,” she says.
Speaking to ABC News Breakfast, Treasurer Jim Chalmers says Queenslanders are “preparing for the worst but hoping for the best”.
“There is a lot of stress and anxiety. People are obviously very concerned and very worried about what the next couple of days might bring. There’s a lot of people in harm’s way here.
“We’re talking about something like four and a half million Australians, potentially in harm way, 1.8m homes, and we expect that there’ll be billions of dollars of damage done by Cyclone Alfred and so the best thing we can do is prepare and stay informed, make sure that people are accessing all of the relevant information and getting it from trusted sources.”
Over the next day or so as the cyclone approaches, the Queensland coast and northern NSW coast is expected to be hit with heavy rain, flash flooding, storm surges and very destructive wind gusts.
For information on how to prepare for a cyclone, click HERE. You can check out all the associated cyclone warnings HERE. If you’re in an affected cyclone area, you can find advice HERE.
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