The outer bands of Tropical Cyclone Alfred are lashing Australia’s east coast with wind and rain as the rare southerly storm’s eye inches closer to landfall expected on Saturday morning.
The storm system has been swirling ever so slowly west toward the Queensland capital of Brisbane, prompting cyclone warnings along a stretch of coast home to around 4 million people.
As of Friday evening, Alfred was around 105 kilometers (65 miles) east of Brisbane, moving west with damaging winds around 95 kilometers per hour (59 miles per hour), according to Australia’s Bureau of Meteorology (BOM).
The cyclone had initially been expected to hit on Thursday night, then Friday morning, and the extra delay raised anxiety levels among residents in an area where cyclones are rare.
They usually form further north over warmer seas, but this one followed an erratic path to become the most southerly cyclone to hit the region in more than 50 years.
The cyclone was already bringing heavy rainfall to coastal areas on Friday, along with damaging winds and storm surges.
Cyclone to hit Saturday
Tropical Cyclone Alfred was forecast to cross islands in Moreton Bay Saturday morning local time before hitting the mainland in two states.
Queensland’s Gold Coast and other coastal areas were considered most vulnerable to storm surges, wind gusts and flash flooding, though warnings extended well inland.
In New South Wales, Australian Defence Force personnel, state emergency services and police were pre-positioned in the Northern Rivers – an area beset by flooding in recent years.
Some residents were still living in temporary housing after the last major flood submerged homes and businesses in 2022.
Authorities repeatedly acknowledged their trauma during press conferences as they sought to assure them that this time there would be no long wait for help.
“Our sincere hope is that the community gets through this without any loss of life, and that we can – when this is all over – focus on the rebuild,” said NSW Premier Chris Minns in the city of Lismore on Friday, where he was expected to ride out the cyclone.
Huge waves
The delay in Cyclone Alfred’s arrival gave authorities more time to issue warnings to residents, many of whom had never lived through a cyclone.
The last one to cross this far south was Tropical Cyclone Zoe in 1974.
The delay also gave sightseers time to explore Alfred’s effects on the coast – including surfers who earlier this week braved waves that by Friday were too dangerous to surf.
Stuart Nettle, the editor of Swellnet, a forecaster service that operates 100 cameras near the coast, said Alfred had produced waves that will be talked about for years.
“The fourth and fifth of March are going to live on in infamy in the memory of Gold Coast surfers,” he said. “Tropical Cyclone Alfred just sat there at the optimum distance and the optimum direction from the Gold Coast and delivered two days of exceptional waves. There’ll be surfers talking about it for a long time to come.”
Few dared to enter the water Friday as waves lashed the coast, prompting warnings from authorities of fines of $10,000 (16,000 Australian dollars) for risky behavior.
Police had stern words for one teenager caught surfing and four others were also reprimanded for putting themselves and others in danger.
“The waves are horrendous, the beaches are hazardous,” said acting Gold Coast City Council Mayor Donna Gates. “Please listen to us and stay away from the beaches. I keep repeating that because somehow, not everyone is listening.”