<?xml version="1.0" encoding="ISO-8859-1"?> <docID>339544</docID> <postdate>2025-03-04 09:15:17</postdate> <headline>‘Key day’ as Alfred brings destructive winds and rain</headline> <body><p><img class="size-full wp-image-339566" src="https://citynews.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/20250303134723800164-original-resized.jpg" alt="" width="900" height="601" /></p> <caption>Cyclone Alfred is expected to bring destructive winds, heavy rain, flash flooding and major erosion. (Jono Searle/AAP PHOTOS)</caption> <p class="wire-column__preview__author"><span class="kicker-line">By <b>Savannah Meacham and Laine Clark</b> in Brisbane</span></p> <p><strong>Gale force winds and heavy rain will start to batter a heavily populated Australian coastline ahead of a tropical cyclone making landfall.</strong></p> <p>Tropical Cyclone Alfred is moving slowly about 560km east of Brisbane as a category two system and is forecast to slow further before making a U-turn towards the city.</p> <p>"It would actually start to move directly towards the coast of Brisbane and the Sunshine Coast later today," Bureau of Meteorology's Jonathan How said.</p> <p>Rainfall and strong wind gusts are already beginning ahead of Alfred making landfall between the Sunshine Coast and Brisbane on Thursday evening or Friday morning.</p> <p>Brisbane's ferry services have stopped so that the vessels can be moved out of the river ahead of Alfred striking the city.</p> <p>Large waves have been recorded along the coastline with one swell reaching beyond seven metres on North Stradbroke Island overnight.</p> <p>The worst of the impacts when Alfred makes landfall will be in its southern flank for areas including Brisbane, the Gold Coast and NSW's Northern Rivers.</p> <p>The Northern Rivers and southeastern parts of Queensland received 40mm of rain overnight which will only escalate over the coming days.</p> <p>The bureau is forecasting heavy rainfall of up to 400mm later in the week leading to widespread, moderate to major flooding in southeast Queensland and NSW.</p> <p>Flood watches are current spanning the two states and multiple rivers.</p> <p>The destructive winds are forecast to be prolonged and cause significant damage to properties and trees as Alfred draws closer.</p> <p>Residents are already preparing for the weather system with 100,000 sandbags collected in the past three days in Brisbane.</p> <p>Alfred will mark the first cyclone to cross the coast since 1974 when Zoe made landfall at Coolangatta.</p> <p>It came just weeks after Cyclone Wanda had triggered record Brisbane floods that claimed 16 lives.</p> <p>There have been some near misses since with Nancy in 1990 and Oma in 2019.</p> <p>Cyclones may have threatened the southeast before but an expert warned many more people and significant infrastructure would be "in the firing line" when Alfred hit.</p> <p>"What we have seen since then (1974) particularly at places like the Gold Coast is a significant amount of development on flood plains and along the coast," Natural Hazards Research Australia CEO Andrew Gissing told AAP.</p> <p>"It could be a significant disaster event. We are right to be taking this seriously."</p> <div class="wire-column__preview__text" id="preview-body"> <p>People have been warned to leave or prepare for the worst, sparking panic buying in some areas.</p> <p>Mr Gissing was confident regions in Alfred's path had enough time to prepare, potentially reducing damage and increasing safety as long as they took the cyclone risk seriously.</p> <p>Premier David Crisafulli urged Queenslanders to be prepared despite supermarket shelves emptying due to panic buying.</p> <p>He urged supermarkets to restock the shelves as quickly as possible but for residents to remain calm.</p> <p>"Today's a really, really key day for everyone, for individuals, and indeed, more broadly as a state, and today's the day that we've got to get those logistics right," he told ABC Radio Brisbane on Friday.</p> <p>"So I'm asking people to take it seriously."</p> </div> </body>