<?xml version="1.0" encoding="ISO-8859-1"?> <docID>339499</docID> <postdate>2025-03-03 12:40:22</postdate> <headline>Two states brace as tropical cyclone impact looms</headline> <body><p><img class="size-full wp-image-339500" src="https://citynews.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/cyclone-alfred-e1740956763158.jpeg" alt="" width="800" height="533" /></p> <caption>Tropical Cyclone Alfred is set to cross the Queensland coast on Thursday. Photo: BoM</caption> <p><span class="kicker-line">By<strong> Savannah Meacham</strong> in Brisbane</span></p> <p><strong>A tropical cyclone set to bring heavy rainfall and damaging winds is expected to impact a part of the Australian coast for the first time in more than 50 years.</strong></p> <p>A community devastated by flooding three years ago has been warned to start sandbagging amid fears Tropical Cyclone Alfred may cause life-threatening river rises.</p> <p>The cyclone is expected to cross between Queensland's Sunshine Coast and Brisbane on Thursday or Friday as a category one or two system.</p> <p>The last cyclone to cross the southeast Queensland coast was Zoe in 1974.</p> <p>Alfred is forecast to bring damaging winds and heavy rainfall from NSW's mid-north coast up to Bundaberg, Queensland, in the coming days.</p> <p>It is set to impact NSW's Northern Rivers, which is only just getting back on its feet after flooding three years ago that claimed five lives and destroyed homes.</p> <p>NSW Emergency Services Minister Jihad Dib assured locals the authorities were doing "everything we can" to prepare for the looming system.</p> <p>"We're cognisant of what the Northern Rivers have gone through and some of the trauma that they carry," he told reporters.</p> <p>The NSW region could be impacted by extreme winds of 100km/h, rainfall up to 300mm on Thursday and Friday and waves exceeding eight metres.</p> <p>State Emergency Service Commissioner Mike Wassing on Monday urged Northern Rivers residents to begin sandbagging.</p> <p>A tropical cyclone watch will be issued for northern NSW on Monday.</p> <p>"This is unusual for NSW... we don't often have tropical cyclone watches and warnings in the NSW jurisdiction," Bureau of Meteorology's Steven Bernasconi said.</p> <p>Alfred is currently a category two system in the Coral Sea, about 465km northeast of Brisbane, and heading southeast.</p> <p>It is expected to slow down and do a U-turn towards the Queensland coast on Tuesday but where it exactly will make landfall on Thursday or Friday is still uncertain.</p> <p>Winds at the centre of the cyclone are currently 95 km/h with gusts of up to 130 km/h.</p> <p>Alfred is already impacting the coast causing waves up to 15 metres, leading to significant erosion from K'gari south to the Gold Coast.</p> <p>The bureau warned Alfred would cause long durations of damaging winds.</p> <p>Heavy rainfall is also on the cards which may lead to dangerous and life-threatening flash flooding this week.</p> <p>A flood watch is in place for rivers from Maryborough, in Queensland's Wide Bay region, south to the NSW border.</p> <p>The bureau will be watching for major rises in the Mary, Noosa, Brisbane, Logan and Albert Rivers this week.</p> <p>Queensland Premier David Crisafulli's main concern was the potential impact of flooding across a region featuring more than three million residents.</p> <p>"When you're talking about falls of a few hundred millimetres or more in a short period of time in already soaked catchments that will be a challenge," he told ABC Radio Brisbane.</p> <p>"I've seen how well the southeast has handled flooding events in recent years.</p> <p>"This is an added complexity, but it's nothing that the community can't get through."</p> <p>Generators have been sent to Bay Island communities facing the tough choice of whether to stay or evacuate, the premier said.</p> <p>He urged southeast Queensland residents to prepare by compiling important documents, having tinned food and water and tying down any loose items outside.</p> </body>