Unusual Cyclone Threatens Millions On Australia’s East Coast

Millions of residents along Australia’s eastern coast are planning for the impact of the most southerly cyclone to threaten the region in more than five decades.

Tropical Cyclone Alfred, with strength the equivalent of a category 1 Atlantic hurricane, is expected to cross the coast just south of the Queensland capital of Brisbane, home to 2.5 million people, in the early hours of Friday, potentially at high tide, complicating the days ahead for emergency services.

“This is a rare event – to have a tropical cyclone in an area that is not classified as part of the tropics, here in southeast Queensland and northern New South Wales (NSW),” said Prime Minister Anthony Albanese in Brisbane on Wednesday.

The last cyclone to cross near Brisbane of a similar strength 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.

As of Wednesday, Cyclone Alfred was just over 400 kilometers (250 miles) off the coast, moving west with destructive winds of up to 120 kilometers per hour (75 miles per hour), according to Australia’s Bureau of Meteorology (BOM).

Cyclone Alfred is tracking west towards Australia’s eastern coast. cnnweather
Creeks and rivers in northern NSW were expected to flood, threatening an unwelcome return to scenes of 2022 when heavy rain saw several rivers burst their banks.

Three years on, some flooded homes are still uninhabitable and delays in rebuilding forced residents to live in temporary housing and tents for far longer than many hoped.

“The Northern Rivers has gone through hell over the last few years. We’re particularly concerned about some of those communities,” NSW Premier Chris Minns said Tuesday.

CNN/Ejiofor Ezeifeoma