Millions of residents along Australia’s eastern coast are preparing for the impact of the most southerly cyclone to threaten the region in more than five decades.
Tropical Cyclone Alfred, with strength the equivalent of a category 1 Atlantic hurricane, is expected to cross the coast just south of the Queensland capital of Brisbane, home to 2.5 million people, in the early hours of Friday, potentially at high tide, complicating the days ahead for emergency services.
“This is a rare event – to have a tropical cyclone in an area that is not classified as part of the tropics, here in southeast Queensland and northern New South Wales (NSW),” said Prime Minister Anthony Albanese in Brisbane on Wednesday.
The last cyclone to cross near Brisbane of a similar strength was Cyclone Zoe back in 1974, which caused major flooding in the city and NSW’s Northern Rivers region.
Brisbane’s population has more than doubled since then, but experts say the worst of Cyclone Alfred could be felt south of the storm’s eye, along popular tourist beaches from the Gold Coast to northern NSW.
“We haven’t seen anything quite like this for a good 50 years,” said Darrell Strauss, coastal management researcher at Griffith University.
“There are areas where storm surge is the biggest problem, and then there’s areas where high waves and coastal erosion and inundation from the sea directly due to the waves are a big problem. So, we’ve got a combination of all of that from Brisbane to the Northern Rivers (of NSW),” Strauss said.
As of Wednesday, Cyclone Alfred was just over 400 kilometers (250 miles) off the coast, moving west with destructive winds of up to 120 kilometers per hour (75 miles per hour), according to Australia’s Bureau of Meteorology (BOM).
Creeks and rivers in northern NSW were expected to flood, threatening an unwelcome return to scenes of 2022 when heavy rain saw several rivers burst their banks.
Three years on, some flooded homes are still uninhabitable and delays in rebuilding forced residents to live in temporary housing and tents for far longer than many hoped.
“The Northern Rivers has gone through hell over the last few years. We’re particularly concerned about some of those communities,” NSW Premier Chris Minns said Tuesday.
In Brisbane, residents were busy sandbagging their homes and stripping supermarket shelves of food and bottled water as authorities issued warnings about potential flooding.
Modeling showed 20,000 properties across Brisbane could be impacted by storm surge or flash flooding, according to the Lord Mayor’s office.
Beaches in northern NSW and along the Queensland coast were closed, as authorities warned of hazardous surf with waves of more than 5 meters (16 feet). Storm surges could go even higher, up to 10 meters (32 feet), according to the NSW State Emergency Services.
Queensland Premier David Crisafulli urged residents near vulnerable coastal areas to follow evacuation orders.
“If it was the case that this system, which has strengthened, was to cross on high tide in the middle of the night, and you’re in that storm surge, the last place you want to be is in your home. So, now’s the time,” he said.
Major sporting events were canceled, and schools will close in the affected areas Thursday and Friday.
Strong winds were also a concern in areas where residents are accustomed to heavy rain, but not necessarily cyclone-strength gales. They were urged to tie down anything that could take flight.