Cyclone Alfred live updates: Lismore residents without power and access to water for 72 hours, deputy mayor says; Brisbane battered by strong winds
Lismore residents without power and access to water for 72 hours, deputy mayor says
Hall says Lismore residents have been without power, and consequently unable to access water, for 72 hours:
We have been a couple of days now without power. We haven’t had power for 72 hours and when we don’t have power, we don’t have water either. Even though there’s a lot of water around, there’s no toilets or showers where we are. We have been cut off since Thursday morning. So the water is dropping but it is dropping slowly. We just hope that we don’t get this rain that looks like it’s hanging off the coast again.
She urges residents stay up to date via the Hazards Near Me app, and to stay out of flood waters.
Key events
‘If you can get to sleep during all of the rain, you’re having nightmares about it’: Lismore deputy mayor
Over 250 people are in the Lismore evacuation centre at Southern Cross University as of last night, Hall says. Including Kyogle and Casino, that number grows to 350. The Lismore deputy mayor says:
It’s been pretty traumatic for the community. If you can get to sleep during all of the rain you’re having nightmares about it.
We were downtown on Wednesday helping business owners pack up, you know, better to be safe than sorry, but everyone is just very, very traumatised.
I’ve got young kids and they’re struggling the sleep. We have all been sleeping in the lounge room on mattresses because they’re too scared they’re going to wake up in the morning and the house is going to be inundated with water. The communities, we’re strong and resilient, which everyone loves telling us, but, you know, it is hitting us hard and it was only the flood anniversary a couple of weeks ago, so everybody is feeling it.
Hall says the majority of Lismore’s CBD and low-lying villages will be inundated if river water overtops the flood levee:
Lismore is built around the river with the big cedar farms from 100 years ago. The majority of the CBD, and there’s a lot of villages [in] low-lying areas which we call our basin, they have actually had evacuate-now move, move to higher ground orders issued yesterday. So obviously if it overtops the wall, the flood levee, then it will be inundating all of those communities and they’ll all be cut off.
Lismore residents without power and access to water for 72 hours, deputy mayor says
Hall says Lismore residents have been without power, and consequently unable to access water, for 72 hours:
We have been a couple of days now without power. We haven’t had power for 72 hours and when we don’t have power, we don’t have water either. Even though there’s a lot of water around, there’s no toilets or showers where we are. We have been cut off since Thursday morning. So the water is dropping but it is dropping slowly. We just hope that we don’t get this rain that looks like it’s hanging off the coast again.
She urges residents stay up to date via the Hazards Near Me app, and to stay out of flood waters.
Water levels at Lismore levee falling, deputy mayor says
Deputy mayor of Lismore, Jeri Hall, says the height of water at the flood levee is falling – a positive sign, she says.
Hall is speaking live on the ABC:
It’s still very overcast, we had a little bit of rain overnight, but looking a bit more positive in terms of the height of the water at the flood levee. The last report I received [said] that it is 8.91m and falling.
But, you know, only takes one big storm and one big downpour and we’re back up near, you know, hanging on tenterhooks where we were yesterday.
It’s windy and it’s still a bit wet, but it’s much better than it has been for the last few days.
How does ex-Tropical Cyclone Alfred compare to past storms?
Over the years, at least 20 cyclones have approached within 300km of south-east Queensland and northern NSW, according to the Bureau of Meteorology.
Only a few have made landfall, but history shows that cyclones, and even ex-cyclones, have the potential to wreak havoc in this corner of the country.
An unnamed cyclone that crossed the coast at Coolangatta on 20 February 1954 brought such devastation it was dubbed “the Great Gold Coast Cyclone”. At least 26 people died and the storm caused widespread flooding and structural damage.
And a series of cyclones hit a strip of coastline in 1974, beginning with Wanda, a category 1 cyclone that caused the “second biggest recorded floods since colonisation”.
Petra Stock walks us through what has happened with cyclones in the past – and how Alfred compares:
Alfred expected to move inland today
Ex-Tropical Cyclone Alfred is moving further inland today, travelling west at 10km/h.
Alfred, now classified a tropical low system, is 55km south-west of Maroochydore and 50km west of Bribie Island, according to the Bureau of Meteorology’s latest update as of 1am this morning. It is expected to move inland more rapidly today while weakening.
Sustained winds near the centre are at 55km/h and wind gusts up to 95km/h.
More than 330,000 buildings without power
The latest number of dwellings without power is at more than 330,000 as of this morning.
315,406 are affected by power outages in south-east Queensland, according to the latest Energex numbers from 6am AEST. More than 112,300 of those are in the Gold Coast, and nearly 50,000 in Brisbane city.
In NSW, just over 16,000 properties across Tweed Heads south to Grafton are without power, according to the latest Essential Energy update.
Services beginning to resume in south-east Queensland
South-east Queensland is slowly recovering after halting services for Alfred’s arrival.
Public transport, excluding trains and Gold Coast buses, will resume today, while shops, supermarkets and service stations will begin opening on a case-by-case basis
Ferries to Moreton Bay will resume today for residents stuck on the mainland or the island.
David Crisafulli promised support to individuals and small businesses affected by the weather event once the government has assessed the damage:
If mother nature deals a tough hand, we have to be there to support individuals … small family businesses and farmers.
Brisbane and Gold Coast airports are hoping to resume flights today if it is safe to do so.
A major clean-up effort remains across the south-east, particularly for the Gold Coast.
Energex crews will be working to restore power and assisting telcos to restore communications.
– Australian Associated Press
Queensland premier pledges support to NSW as body found in search for missing man
Meanwhile, thousands of residents have been evacuated and many cannot yet return home as the river levels rise.
The weather event turned deadly when a body, believed to be a 61-year-old man, was found after a daylong search. The man’s ute was swept into flood waters at Megan, about 25 km north of Dorrigo.
He was able to get out of the ute and climb into a tree about 30 metres from the riverbank but was swept away before emergency personnel could reach him.
David Crisafulli vowed to provide any assistance to NSW neighbours as the flood emergency worsened. He told reporters:
Whilst there’s a border that separates our responsibility, it doesn’t separate our compassion for a fellow human.
If those communities cop it again and we can assist them, we’ll be there.
– Australian Associated Press
NSW northern rivers bracing for major flooding across region
Northern NSW is facing a flooding crisis with multiple major flood warnings in place for the Tweed, Richmond, Wilsons, Brunswick, Orara, Clarence and Bellinger rivers.
Major flooding is also expected at the Wilsons River, which runs through Lismore, where the water height is predicted to reach about 10.6m, touching the top of the levee.
The emergency has also affected those sent to help flood victims, with two army trucks crashing south of Lismore on Saturday, injuring more than 30 people.
The NSW premier, Chris Minns, said he was concerned to hear of the injuries and that the state’s emergency services would provide all necessary support:
They came to the northern rivers to help keep this community safe.
The prime minister, Anthony Albanese, and defence minister, Richard Marles said in a statement the focus was on the personnel and their families:
Our ADF heroes were on their way to help Australians in need.
– Australian Associated Press
Brisbane region battered by heavy winds as storm crosses the coast
Our first few posts will be an overview of ex-Tropical Cyclone Alfred’s movement and impact in the last 24 hours, and a look at what is to come, courtesy of Australian Associated Press:
More than 200,000 homes remain without power and the threat of a tropical cyclone is not yet over despite the system being downgraded.
Ex-cyclone Alfred began moving as a tropical low from Queensland’s Bribie Island, across the coast, and inland towards the state’s south-west on Sunday.
The weakened storm still packs a punch, with the Brisbane region being battered by rain and strong wind gusts on Saturday night, including 100km/h recorded in Redcliffe and more than 70km/h at Brisbane airport.
And there is more to come, as forecasters expect up to 700mm of rain and destructive gusts continuing through to Monday.
“We don’t know what the weather will bring, the system remains active,” the Queensland premier, David Crisafulli, said.
Welcome
Good morning and welcome to our live coverage of Tropical Cyclone Alfred.
Alfred crossed Moreton Island as a category 1 tropical cyclone just after midnight on Saturday morning. It weakened below tropical cyclone intensity at 6am that day.
The centre of Ex-Tropical Cyclone Alfred made landfall around 8pm AEST Saturday over Bribie Island, then on to the mainland around 9pm.
BoM forecasts Alfred to move inland more rapidly today while weakening.
But the effects of the storm are already being felt over a large area.
We will be bringing you updates throughout the day.
