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Welfare recipients told to perform mutual obligations as cyclone bears down
We have a news story this morning about the impact the cyclone is already having on life in Queensland.
Private employment agencies across Queensland have given jobseekers the impression they still need to perform their mutual obligations, despite there being a pause across large swaths of the state while it prepares for Tropical Cyclone Alfred.
Read our full report here:
Queensland reporter details memories from 2006 Cyclone Larry
One of Queensland team who will be on duty today to bring the latest from the cyclone zone is Joe Hincliffe. He has previous with cyclones, Cyclone Larry to be precise, and in a piece today he recounts sheltering on a farm as the eye of the category 4 storm passed overhead at Innisfail in 2006.
Describing the aftermath, Joe writes:
Fallen trees and giant stands of bamboo blocked the single road to our farm until the army and council brought heavy machinery to clear a path some time after.
We were without running water or power for days, maybe weeks, the packing shed a makeshift kitchen where we ate meals cooked off a gas barbecue and drank instant coffee made with rainwater and UHT milk to the hum of a generator.
You can read his full article here:
Ben Smee
The NSW State Emergency Service has sent these safety messages for those in the storm’s path:
- If you are in the warning area – stay indoors. Destructive winds can cause injury and damage to property.
- Flash flooding can occur suddenly and without an official warning. Monitor rainfall in your areas and avoid travelling during heavy rain
- People should prepare their homes for strong winds, by putting away loose items around their home, trimming trees aways from properties and not parking vehicles under trees or powerlines.
- Prepare an emergency kit with essential items including medications, documents, pet food and family photos.
- Never drive, walk, ride through, play or swim in flood water. If you come across a flooded road, turn around and find an alternative route.
- Raise your assets, including waste and chemical containers above expected flood heights.
- If you are near the beach or a coastal waterway, storm surge could cause flooding. This is dangerous. Decide now where you will evacuate to.
- Avoid camping near water and under trees as rivers and creeks could rise quickly and without much warning.
- If you are likely to be isolated due to flooding, stock up on essential items now.
- Download the Hazards Near Me App or visit ses.nsw.gov.au to stay across the latest warnings and information.
- The NSW SES is available to assist communities 24/7.
- Call the NSW SES on 132 500 if you need assistance during a flood, storm or tsunami. In a life-threatening emergency, call Triple Zero (000).
Ben Smee
NSW communities evacuated as thousands of people call SES for help
The NSW State Emergency Service says it has responded to 6,300 calls for help, as heavy rains to the south of Tropical Cyclone Alfred hit communities on the north coast and Northern Rivers.
A number of communities have been evacuated, including Lismore’s CBD, north and south. The town was badly affected by flooding in 2022. The SES said:
As the situation unfolds, more evacuations may be issued, stay up to date, and stay alert.
The service says it has performed three flood rescues and responded to 3,495 incidents already during Tropical Cyclone Alfred, which remains on latest advice about 24 hours from landfall.
Ben Smee
TC Alfred performs erratic loop as it tracks towards southeast Queensland coast
Tropical Cyclone Alfred has performed another erratic loop as it tracks towards the southeast Queensland coast, as forecasters warn the system’s behaviour means “significant uncertainty” remains about where, when and how forcefully it will reach landfall.
The Bureau of Meteorology’s updated tracking maps – from early this morning – show Alfred hitting the coast just north of Brisbane about daybreak tomorrow.
It is predicted to maintain its category two intensity until it reaches Moreton Bay, but could be weakened by the bay islands and downgraded to a category one storm by the time it reaches the coast.
Those tracking maps are best estimates, using information from a number of models that predict how the cyclone might behave. Forecasters were accurately able to provide communities with significant warning that Alfred would turn west on Tuesday and head towards the coast.
But as if to underscore the difficulty of giving precise information – like the time and place of the cyclone crossing the coast – Alfred is stumbling about erratically as it heads towards the populated south east. Late on Friday the cyclone performed another pirouette, the track looping back around on itself. The Bureau said:
The system maintains a general westerly track, however it recently completed a small loop, similar to previous loops that have occurred over the past few days.
It would not be a surprise to see further short term variations in the track as Alfred nears the coast, which will be an important consideration when following the system on radar.
A mid-level ridge to the south will steer Alfred generally westwards towards the coast. However, there is variation in the strength of the steering flow and north-south variations are anticipated.
The latest track indicates that landfall is most likely on Friday night or Saturday morning. However, due to the system’s slow and occasionally erratic motion, there is considerable uncertainty in the exact timing, and the crossing itself is expected to be prolonged.
Gale-force winds accompanying the storm have already hit a large stretch of the Queensland and NSW coast. This has led to widespread power outages.
As of 5.30am, Queensland’s Energex power network was reporting 28,655 customer outages across south-east Queensland, all attributed to “Damage Due To Cyclone”.
In NSW, the provider Essential Energy said that as of 6am Cyclone Alfred had left over 35,000 homes and businesses without power in northern NSW overnight after severe winds and heavy rain covered the region.
The worst hit communities were in the Northern Rivers and Far North Coast. The company said in an online update:
Essential Energy crews worked late into the evening to restore what they could safely until conditions became too dangerous to work in.
Once safe to do so, crews will continue to restore power where they can until they are able to access areas of the network that are flooded or damaged by wind or vegetation debris.
Due to the extreme conditions, the extent of the damage and the continuing weather event it may take several days before power is restored to customers.
BoM warns of life-threatening flash-flooding
Bureau of Meteorology forecaster Jonathan Howe has told the ABC that the impact from wind and rain will still be significant:
Regardless of whether it does cross as a category 1, 2, or 3, we are still expecting that very heavy rainfall and life-threatening flash-flooding well before the crossing and well after the crossing as well and that very dangerous storm surge.
The outer part of the storm is lashing the coast on an enormous sweep from the Sunshine Coast to Grafton in northern NSW, with wind speeds touching 111km/h at Byron Bay.
The NSW SES has issued 21 emergency warnings, 36 watch and act warnings and 36 advice warnings.
They include prepare to evacuate advice for several areas in northern NSW including Murwillumbah, South Murwillumbah and Settlement Point due to flooding risk.
The SES advised people in parts of Mullumbimby to the east of the railway line to monitor the situation and prepare to evacuate. An evacuation centre has been set up at the Ocean Shores Country Club.
As we’re all now beginning to realise, Alfred is slow moving and not entirely predictable in its movements. The past few hours underline this.
At one point in the night – according to the update at 11pm AEST – it appeared to do another turn away from the coast and was 240km off the coast. At 7pm it had been 225km east of Brisbane.
BoM tracking map of Tropical Cyclone Alfred. Photograph: BoM
By the time BoM issued its next advice at 1.34am, it appeared to have righted itself again and was heading back towards land. The BoM said:
After being slow moving for several hours, Tropical #CycloneAlfred is moving to the west once again, towards Qld coast.
The current tracking map shows that it will be about 25km off the coast by 1am on Saturday morning, by which time it will have weakened to a category 1 storm.
Welcome to our live coverage of Tropical Cyclone Alfred.
The latest advice from the Bureau of Meteorology at 4.52am AEST places Alfred 195km east of Brisbane. It has travelled 30km since the forecast issued by the BoM at 7pm, when it was 225km east of the city. It continues to be slow moving.
The latest advice says the eye of the storm is still tracking to cross the coast on Friday night or early on Saturday morning, “most likely close to Moreton Bay between Noosa and Coolangatta”, and will have weakened to a category 1 storm.
But the effects of the storm are already being felt over a large area – and the next 24 hours are likely to be tough for the millions in or near the storm’s path.
The BoM said there was “a very high risk of significant impacts due to widespread heavy rainfall over the coming days”.
Communities from Double Island Point in Queensland to Grafton in New South Wales, including Brisbane, Gold Coast, Sunshine Coast, Byron Bay and Ballina but not including Grafton, are all in the warning zone.
The storm will be packing heavy rainfall which could bring life-threatening flash flooding, the BoM said, along with very strong winds, storm surges and high tides.
We will be bringing you updates throughout the day.
