Rare cyclone threatens millions on Australia’s east coast
Tropical Cyclone Alfred is expected to make landfall late Friday or early Saturday with the strength of a category 1 Atlantic hurricane.
Heavy rain, strong winds and rough surf were seen across parts of Australia as Cyclone Alfred inched closer to the continent on March 5 and 6. The storm is expected to make landfall over the weekend.
Brisbane, Australia (CNN) — Millions of residents along Australia’s eastern coast are bracing for the arrival of a very slow-moving storm, the most southerly tropical cyclone to threaten the region in more than 50 years.
Tropical Cyclone Alfred is expected to make landfall late Friday or early Saturday with the strength of a category 1 Atlantic hurricane, as it swirls west toward the city of Brisbane, home to 2.5 million people, and coastal suburbs either side.
Cyclone Alfred is tracking west towards Australia's eastern coast. (Photo credit: CNN Weather via CNN Newsource)
Alfred is threatening a region that doesn’t normally experience cyclones; they typically form much further north, over warmer waters in the tropics. The delay in the storm’s arrival gave officials more time to issue warnings to anxious residents living in properties previously untested by cyclonic winds.
As of Thursday, Cyclone Alfred was around 245 kilometers (152 miles) off the coast, moving west with damaging winds around 100 kilometers per hour (62 miles per hour), according to Australia’s Bureau of Meteorology (BOM).
The cyclone has already whipped up hazardous waves along the coast, including one measuring a record 12.3 meters (40 feet) on the Gold Coast, a popular tourist strip south of Brisbane.
Waves crash onto rocks as people look on at the Spit on the Seaway on the Gold Coast, Australia, on March 3, as Cyclone Alfred builds off the east coast. (Photo credit: Jono Searle/AAP/AP via CNN Newsource)
Gold Coast City Council warned of fines of $10,000 (16,000 Australian dollars) for anyone venturing too close to rock walls and rough water after injuries were reported by onlookers.
In northern New South Wales (NSW), around 4,000 homes were without power on Thursday due to downed power lines. Heavy rain was reported in some areas and riverine flooding was already threatening low-lying communities.
Authorities warned millions of residents in the storm’s path to prepare for destructive wind gusts, flash flooding and storm surges that may combine with high tides.
Flood watches have been issued across the coast, where rainfall of 200 to 400 millimeters (7.8 to 15.7 inches) is expected, and isolated totals nearing 500 millimeters (nearly 20 inches) are possible.
Queensland Premier David Crisafulli warned late Thursday of four key challenges.
“There are waves, there is wind, there is rainfall, and there will be flooding, but none of those challenges are insurmountable, and I have every faith in the work that has been done to date,” he said.
Council workers and residents fill sandbags on the Gold Coast, Australia, on March 3. (Photo credit: Jono Searle/AAP/AP via CNN Newsource)
Preparation included shutting schools, suspending public transport and closing shops and other services, leaving many with little else to do but prepare for the storm – or marvel at large swells along the beach.
NSW Premier Chris Minns compared Alfred to a “completely unwanted house guest” – the cyclone will arrive later than expected and stay longer than planned.
“Unfortunately, that means the window for destruction in our community – heavy rains, winds, powerful surf – is longer than we would have otherwise liked,” he said.
Biggest storm in decades
The last cyclone of a similar strength to cross so far south 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.
Creeks and rivers in northern NSW were expected to burst their banks, threatening more devastation for residents in an area that has endured severe flooding in the past decade.
“We know that after the years of trauma that they’ve experienced, the devastating floods, going back to 2017 and of course, 2022, there is a lot of anxiety and distress in the community,” said Rose Jackson, Minister for the North Coast. “Mental health support is available.”
In Brisbane, residents were busy stripping supermarket shelves of food and bottled water. Hundreds of thousands of sandbags were distributed, though it didn’t seem to be enough, with reports that some had resorted to stealing sand from beach volleyball courts.
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 NSW State Emergency Services (SES) warned of potential storm surges of up to 10 meters (32 feet). It was the state’s first cyclone warning since 1990, the SES said.
This story has been updated with additional information.
The-CNN-Wire™ & © 2025 Cable News Network, Inc., a Warner Bros. Discovery Company. All rights reserved.
Report a Typo
