Evacuation warnings as delayed Tropical Cyclone Alfred starts to lash coast
Extensive flood evacuation warnings are in place in northern NSW as Tropical Cyclone Alfred starts to affect the coastline in the state’s north, with the category 2 storm’s now delayed landfall prolonging extreme weather conditions.
Emergency services are urging residents in the storm’s path to prepare to evacuate as the western edge of Alfred, which was sitting about 325 kilometres east of Brisbane and 300 kilometres east of the Gold Coast early on Thursday morning, starts to lash the coastline from Coolangatta in Queensland, to Ballina in the Northern Rivers.
The system is now expected to make landfall between Maroochydore and Coolangatta at about 5pm (NSW time, AEDT) on Friday, 15 hours later than initially forecast, the Bureau of Meteorology said. Landfall is expected about 4pm in Queensland, which is one hour behind NSW.
The weather bureau said Alfred was expected to remain a category 2 storm as it heads towards land, with sustained winds of up to 95km/h and wind gusts of up to 130km/h near the cyclone’s centre.
Destructive winds of up to 155km/h and a dangerous storm tide could hit as far south as Cape Byron, the weather bureau said.
Loading
Weather conditions are expected to deteriorate rapidly on Thursday afternoon and evening as winds and rainfall increase. Parts of the state’s north-east are forecast to be drenched with up to 800mm of rain from Wednesday to Saturday, while other areas could receive sustained rainfall of up to 600mm.
Alfred was initially forecast to cross the coast early on Friday morning, sparking concerns it would coincide with high tide at 1am (AEDT), causing dangerous storm surges, and creating a weather event not seen in NSW since Tropical Cyclone Nancy hit the state in 1990.
“We are dealing with three natural disaster events in one,” NSW SES Commissioner Mike Wassing said on Wednesday.
