Australia is bracing for severe flooding as Cyclone Alfred nears, with the rare storm on the country’s eastern coast expected to bring torrential rain, destructive winds, and storm surges.
The tropical cyclone is now forecast to make landfall early on Saturday, after its progress towards the coast dramatically slowed. Alfred was 240km east of Brisbane and moving west at just 7kmph on Thursday, with sustained winds near the centre gusting to 130kmph.
Forecaster Thomas Hinterdorfer from Higgins Storm Chasing said earlier that the storm slowing down would be the “worst case scenario”, as it means a longer period of very heavy rainfall while the cyclone straddles the coast.
Strong winds have already cut power to thousands of homes, and Brisbane Airport has been closed, with hundreds of flights now suspended. The State Emergency Service has ordered evacuations in Lismore and other parts of northern New South Wales by 9pm.
Prime minister Anthony Albanese urged residents to exercise caution, saying that while the cyclone “has slowed up somewhat… that is not all good news”.
Authorities are searching for a possible missing jetskier off the northern New South Wales coast, as rough seas pose life-threatening risks.
Tropical Cyclone Alfred is destined to become one of the most significant weather events in Australia’s recent history, bringing a multitude of severe weather across several days.
Already this week, as Alfred gathered steam offshore, it has pounded the coast with waves in excess of 12 metres, and has soaked parts of the Gold Coast, Northern Rivers and Mid North Coast with well over 100 millimetres of rain.
As of 11am Thursday, Alfred was still more than 200 kilometres offshore and moving slowly at less than 10 kilometres per hour.
Alfred’s strength remained as a category two tropical cyclone, which is defined as a storm with winds around the eye gusting between 125kph and 164kph.
Read more via ABC News