Tropical Cyclone Alfred continues to approach the Australian coast slowly, spinning up damaging winds and heavy rain.
The category 2 storm is expected to cross the coast tonight or early on Saturday morning, most likely between Noosa and Coolangatta.
It has knocked out power to tens of thousands on the Gold Coast and in northern NSW.
Warning of more power outages
Minister for Emergency Management Jennifer McAllister has warned more power outages could be forthcoming as tens of thousands lingered in darkness overnight.
“We can’t be certain that people will be with power at all times in the coming days,” she told Today.
“And we are asking people to prepare their homes to get ready for the event and to make sure that they’ve got sufficient food and enough water.
“You know, a torch so that their home is ready in the event that there is an outage of some kind.”
She said power companies had extra workers on alert to try to restore lost electricity.
BoM map forecasts early weakening of cyclone
The latest Bureau of Meteorology tracking map has predicted Cyclone Alfred will decline to category one strength by Saturday morning.
The map shows the eye of the storm crossing Moreton Island at 1am Saturday, where it is labelled as “1”.
The Bureau has previously said it expects Alfred to weaken rapidly after it makes landfall.
But authorities and analysts have repeatedly warned that the rain which follows the cyclone will pose its own danger.
‘We’re far better prepared’ state MP says
Lismore MP Janelle Saffin says the community and government are better prepared for a flood disaster after the tragedy of 2022.
“We’re far better prepared. The community is prepared,” she told Today.
“They’ve been doing it this week. I’ve been watching them all over the region.”
She praised the swiftness and thoroughness of the preparation.
“We’ve got boots and boats on the ground everywhere.”
SES says thousands of incidents in past 24 hours
New landfall location forecast for Alfred
Alfred is less than 200km from Brisbane now, according to the Bureau of Meteorology’s latest update.
Still at category two, with sustained central winds of 95km/hr and gusts up to 130km/hr, the storm is 195km east of Brisbane and 180 east-north-east of the Gold Coast.
The “slowly moving” storm is expected to remain at category two when it makes landfall late this evening or early Saturday,
It’s expected to cross the coast “most likely” close to Moreton Bay, between Noosa and Coolangatta.
Heavy rain is falling over the south-east Queensland and north-east NSW coasts, which is expected to continue throughout the weekend.
The risk of tidal floods is expected to rise tonight and early tomorrow morning.
Gusts of up to 120km/hr have been recorded near the coast between Cape Moreton and Cape Byron, with their range expected to extend to between Noosa and Ballina today.
And destructive gusts of 155km/hr are likely to develop near the cyclone’s centre and south of it.
Brisbane sandbag access shut down
Brisbane Council has announced its sandbag stations will not reopen today.
Previously closed on Wednesday night, they reopened yesterday after Tropical Cyclone Alfred’s arrival was delayed.
However, they closed again at 8pm overnight.
“No sandbag stations will reopen on Friday 7 March for safety reasons,” Brisbane Council said on Facebook.
“Our four Resource Recovery Centres at Willawong, Chandler, Ferny Grove and Nudgee will also close from 8pm tonight, Thursday 6 March, until further notice.”
New warnings issued this morning
New warnings have been issued this morning for the Northern Rivers Region.
People in the Mullumbimby area and its surrounds have been told to prepare to evacuate due to flooding.
Overnight, several evacuation orders were issued for other communities, including Port Macquarie and Lismore.
Stay up to date on warnings at the Hazard Watch website here.
Cyclone Alfred’s approach to south-east Queensland and northern NSW on Friday, March 7, 2025.
The category 2 storm is well and truly making itself felt with damaging winds and heavy rainfall over the warning zone, from Double Island Point to Grafton.
It’s due to cross the coast between Noosa and Coolangatta tonight or early tomorrow morning.
This is the latest forecast track map available from the Bureau of Meteorology.
Live Updates will be made via 9 News website for live updates of Tropical Cyclone Alfred click here
Source Credit: 9 News