A swath of Australia’s eastern coast around Brisbane, the country’s third-largest city, was bracing for the first cyclone forecast to make landfall in the region in decades, as the authorities warned of the potential for widespread flooding and destructive winds.
The slow-moving Tropical Cyclone Alfred was expected to come ashore late Friday or early Saturday near Brisbane, where about 2.7 million people live. At midday on Thursday, it was hovering about 150 miles off the city and already creating towering waves of record heights. Local authorities have issued “prepare to evacuate” warnings for parts of the city and nearby regions, saying tens of thousands of structures in low-lying areas were at risk of being flooded.
Wind gusts up to about 95 miles per hour were expected in coastal areas, and dangerous levels of storm tide could engulf parts of the region, forecasters warned. Alfred would be the first cyclone to make landfall along the southeastern coast of the state of Queensland since 1974, according to Australia’s Bureau of Meteorology.
More than 900 schools and multiple airports were being closed and public transportation suspended in southern Queensland and northern New South Wales ahead of the storm making landfall. Grocery store shelves have been emptied by shoppers and people formed long lines to get sandbags in recent days as the cyclone, originally expected to remain offshore, changed course and began advancing toward land.
Even as authorities were warning about the danger ahead, the record swell brought droves of devoted surfers to the coast in recent days, along with crowds to watch them ride the cyclone waves.
Officials warned that the storm’s slow advance could amplify its impact on coastal communities by prolonging the rainfall and storm surges. Among the areas threatened by the storm is Lismore, a small city about eight hours north of Sydney which suffered devastating floods in 2022 in which 22 people died.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said Thursday that he would approve emergency federal funds for the states of Queensland and New South Wales for post-storm recovery efforts.
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