Good afternoon.
Tens of thousands of people in two states have lost power, as damaging winds, huge waves and heavy rainfall from the approaching Tropical Cyclone Alfred begin to batter coastal communities.
Forecasters said Alfred may make a “prolonged” coastal crossing, as the category two storm moved slowly towards landfall in south-east Queensland.
The Bureau of Meteorology was updating its tracking forecast every hour, and the corridor for Alfred to cross the mainland coast had narrowed. It was now likely between Noosa and Beenleigh about 11am on Saturday.
Forecasters have said the cyclone’s wayward behaviour as it approaches heavily populated parts of south-east Queensland is creating “considerable uncertainty” in predicting where and when the system could make landfall.
Follow the latest developments of the storm via our live blog.
Top news
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Curd surge: TikTok recipes drive a national cottage cheese shortage
In pictures
A new exhibition shows how artists from the Polish school of posters reimagined films such as Vertigo and Alien while navigating communist censors.
What they said …
***
“Now I know … hell is not … hot, it’s actually wet and very strong winds.”
Aurimas Mockus finally made it to Australia, but not in the manner he imagined. Instead of triumphantly paddling in on the Kursis, the one-seater boat he’d been rowing for nearly five months across the Pacific Ocean as part of a solo mission from San Diego to Brisbane, he arrived in Sydney Harbour, relieved and alive, onboard an Australian naval ship.
Had it not been for Tropical Cyclone Alfred, he likely would have completed the 12,000km journey, and joined just a handful of people to have rowed across the Pacific solo.
In numbers
About six in every 100 people who get Covid develop long Covid. Now surgeons at University College London Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust have cured a dozen patients, each of whom had suffered a profound loss of smell after a Covid infection.
Reader callout
Send us your photographs and videos of Tropical Cyclone Alfred
Guardian Australia’s readers have provided thousands of images and videos to support our coverage of major news events over the past decade.
Now, we’re asking for any pictures or videos you can provide to help in our reporting of Tropical Cyclone Alfred but your safety and security are most important.
Before bed read
After years of discussion around nepo babies, Bec Shaw’s patience is wearing thin. No matter how measured and logical she attempts to be about the issue, it turns out she’s still vulnerable to getting really pissed off by it. As Shaw writes, nepo babies should do what they want – except complain to the rest of us.
Daily word game
Today’s starter word is: REED. You have five goes to get the longest word including the starter word. Play Wordiply.
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