Along the southeast Queensland coast, including the nation’s third-largest city, the tropical storm Alfred is expected to bring flooding and hazardous winds.
Authorities warned of the possibility of catastrophic floods and destructive winds as they prepared for the first cyclone to hit the region in decades, which would affect a significant portion of Australia’s eastern coast near Brisbane, the third-largest city in the country. In the vicinity of Brisbane, home to roughly 2.7 million people, the slow-moving Tropical Cyclone Alfred was predicted to make landfall late Friday or early Saturday.
It was lurking around 150 miles off the city at noon on Thursday, already generating record-high waves. Tens of thousands of buildings in low-lying areas were at risk of flooding, according to local authorities, who issued “prepare to evacuate” warnings for parts of the city and surrounding areas.
Forecasters warned that dangerous amounts of storm tide could envelop portions of the region and that coastal areas might see wind gusts of up to 95 miles per hour. Australia’s Bureau of Meteorology said Alfred will be the first cyclone to hit the state of Queensland’s southeast coast since 1974.
Before the storm hit land, public transit was suspended in northern New South Wales and southern Queensland, and more than 900 schools and many airports were being closed.
In recent days, as the cyclone, which was first predicted to stay offshore, reversed course and started moving toward land, residents lined up to get sandbags and grocery store shelves were cleared by shoppers.
In recent days, the record surge has drawn large numbers of dedicated surfers to the coast, along with crowds to watch them ride the storm waves, despite authorities’ warnings about the danger that lies ahead.
Authorities cautioned that by extending the rainfall and storm surges, the storm’s gradual progress would worsen its effects on coastal areas.
Lismore, a small city eight hours north of Sydney that saw horrific floods in 2022 that claimed 22 lives, is one of the regions that the storm is threatening. On Thursday, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese announced that he would authorize emergency federal funding for post-storm recovery work in the states of New South Wales and Queensland.
