Body of a man swept away in floodwaters is found while 22 people are injured after an army truck rolled over amid Cyclone Alfred’s destruction

Two army trucks have collided on a regional road injuring dozens of soldiers and leaving two trapped inside the wrecked vehicles.

Paramedics were called to reports of an army truck having rolled over on Tregeagle Road in Tregeagle, 9km east of Lismore, at 5.05pm on Saturday.

Initial reports indicated there were 22 injured but NSW Ambulance have upgraded the number to 36.

Eight of those are seriously injured but the two soldiers still stuck in the overturned vehicles have yet to be assessed.

NSW Ambulance sent out 18 vehicles in response to the call for help.

The ADF gave a statement which confirmed a number of its members were hurt.

‘On Saturday 8 March 2025, there was an incident involving two Australian Defence Force (ADF) vehicles that were providing community support to Lismore following ex-Tropical Cyclone Alfred. A number of ADF personnel have been injured,’ a spokesperson said.

‘The welfare of ADF members and their families is a priority and Defence’s focus is on supporting those involved.

‘Due to the developing nature of the incident, no further information will be available at this time, however Defence will provide further updates when possible.’

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese issued a statement on X.

‘A short time ago there was a serious vehicle incident involving two Australian Defence Force vehicles near Lismore,’ he said.

‘A number of ADF personal have been injured, some seriously. Medical assistance is on hand. We stress this is an ongoing incident.

‘Right now our focus is on the welfare of those involved and their families.

‘Our ADF heroes were on their way to help Australians in need.’

Opposition Leader Peter Dutton took to X to say the incident was worrying.

‘Deeply concerned by reports of ADF personnel seriously injured near Lismore while assisting with flood recovery,’ he wrote.

‘The ADF is at the forefront of Australia’s disaster response, bravely stepping into danger to protect and support communities.

‘Our thoughts, prayers and gratitude are with them, their families and their fellow personnel. Wishing all those injured a full and speedy recovery.’

A body has been found during a search for a man who was swept into floodwaters about 25km northeast of Dorrigo, in northern NSW, on Friday.

Emergency services were called to Wild Cattle Creek Bridge after a ute being driven across was swept into floodwaters.

The driver – a 61-year-old man – was able to get out of the ute and climb onto a tree about 30m from the riverbank but emergency personnel were unable to reach the him before he was swept away.

At about 4.30pm on Saturday, the body of a man was found.

While he is yet to be formally identified, it is believed to be that of the missing man.

The Australian Defence Force has now reported that 13 of its personnel were injured in the crash between two army trucks near Lismore this afternoon.

NSW Ambulance had earlier said 36 people were injured in the crash at Tregeagle.

A spokesperson for Defence said it was 13 injured but there were 36 of its personnel ‘involved’ in the crash.

It’s been reported that three may be seriously injured.

It’s not known how many are in hospital or how the accident happened.

Gusts of up to 100 km/h have been recorded at Redcliffe, north of Brisbane, as ex-Tropical Cyclone Alfred approaches.

The tropical low is currently at Bribie Island.

Brisbane airport has recorded gusts of up to 82 km/h, with 60 km/h recorded in downtown Brisbane.

Now that Alfred is finally making landfall, even heavier rain is predicted over the next few days.

Models are now predicting Brisbane and the Sunshine Coast could see the most intense falls on Sunday.

Southeast Queensland is being warned that up to 400mm could fall tomorrow.

It may mean the Northern Rivers region of New South Wales, which has copped a hammering in the past 24 hours, may see less flooding.

Places to have had rainfall totals of more than 1m were Dorrigo(754mm), Meldrum (697mm) and Lower Springbrook (575mm).

The Bureau of Meteorology (BoM) is forecasting ex-tropical cyclone Alfred will cross the coast just north of Brisbane within the next two hours.

‘Ex-tropical Cyclone Alfred is slowly approaching the coast at Bribie Island with a crossing expected in the next hour or two,’ the BoM update at 8.45pm said.

Alfred was downgraded from a category 1 on Saturday morning, but the tropical low still delivered plenty of intense rainfall as the storm inched closer to the coast.

Residents on both sides of the Queensland-NSW border have been contending with property damage, flooding and the loss of power.

A man has been charged after allegedly threatening SES workers at a sandbag station in Corindi Beach, in northern NSW.

The 23-year-old man arrived at the site at about 2.30pm on Friday and filled a number of sandbags before leaving.

An hour later, the man returned and took more sandbags from other residents and SES workers.

When an emergency service worker tried to intervene, the man who was armed with a shovel, allegedly threatened him and other SES staff.

Police were called and arrived at the sandbagging station shortly after.

The man was arrested and his car was searched where police allegedly found and seized a knife and a machete. The shovel was also seized.

He was taken to Coffs Harbour Police Station, where he was charged with stalk/intimidate intend fear physical etc harm (personal), and custody of knife in public place.

The 23-year-old was refused bail and appeared at Parramatta Bail Court on Saturday where a further charge of intimidate frontline emergency worker was laid.

A growing number of people are questioning whether Cyclone Alfred was truly a natural phenomenon or if it was actually a man-made disaster.

Conspiracy theorists flooded social media referencing a High-frequency Active Auroral Research Program (HAARP) theory which they claim may explain how Alfred came to be.

HAARP focused on radio wave propagation, ionospheric disturbances, and space weather effects which social media users believe have the potential to induce extreme weather events.

Experts dismissed the idea of HAARP causing cyclones or any other natural disaster, according to AAP FactCheck.

Despite this, conspiracy theorists persistently point to alleged chemtrails sprayed into the sky by aircraft which pass over as evidence of the program at work.

Some believe these trails, which appear as white cloud streams in the sky, are part of a coordinated effort to manipulate weather patterns.

Ionosphere and magnetosphere expert Professor Fred Menk dismissed the idea as the supposed chemtrails are far too close to the ground to affect weather patterns.

‘Weather at ground level is driven by geophysical effects, mostly solar heating, into the neutral atmosphere much nearer the ground,’ Professor Menk told NewsWire.

‘There’s lots of planes out there, but the volume or area of air that they disturb at any one time, to my mind, is pretty small in a spatio-temporal setting.’

The Bureau of Meteorology confirmed just after 4pm Saturday that the weather system was sitting off the coast of Bribie Island between Brisbane and the Sunshine Coast.

Senior Meteorologist Christie Johnson said it would still take hours to reach the mainland.

‘[We’re] expecting the rain to actually get heavier as we go through the rest of the afternoon and particularly into the evening and overnight, when Alfred finally gets his skates on and starts moving onshore,’ she said.

Ms Johnson said the system was still sending out strong winds and the rainfall could especially be a concern because its slow speed could result in more falling over the same areas, leading to flooding.

‘It should move inland for probably the rest of Saturday, maybe into Sunday morning, and then it will start to take a bit more of a south westerly track and track down – perhaps reaching into northern NSW in the new week.

‘The fact that it’s taking so long to even get on land means that it may be even slower than currently our forecasts are showing.’

Telco provider Optus has said 270 of its mobile towers are not working due to power outages across southeast Queensland and northeast NSW.

It said a ‘large number of customers’ using mobile phone and NBN fixed lines are affected and it could not provide an estimate of when services would be restored.

‘Generators, SatCats and additional personnel are being moved to the most significant sites where safe to do so, with extreme weather conditions continuing in the area,’ it said.

‘The safety and wellbeing of our customers and employees are of the utmost importance as we work as quickly as possible to restore services.

‘At this stage, we don’t know how long it will take to resolve services, however we are prioritising our resources to address impacted areas and support connectivity at key evacuation centres.’

If customers do not have mobile coverage, the telco said a workaround could be to try apps that can use wifi such as WhatsApp.

Gold Coast acting mayor Donna Gates has given an update saying locals are no longer advised to stay in place, but has warned power outages and extensive damage to beach infrastructure still represent a danger.

‘It’s a matter of simply monitoring the conditions,’ she said.

‘We are not saying stay in place… since the last briefing we seem to have had an improved outlook.

‘So now simply use your common sense, but still stay away from that damaged infrastructure and the beaches.

‘I don’t know the full extent of the erosion and we will not until we get through this next phase, so maybe tomorrow there will be a clear indication.

‘Yesterday it was 4-6 metres of escarpment damaged all the way from Southport and I have seen a lot of vision this morning that indicates we have some pretty extensive damage throughout beachside infrastructure.

‘If you need to be on the roads, drive to the conditions.

‘Bear in mind, there is 150 signalised intersections that are out, so it’s better off the road if at all possible.

‘We did dodge a bit of a bullet.

‘It has been an unpredictable weather system. Brisbane is going to get the aftermath that we were expecting here as the southern tip.

‘But it has gone a little further north, and that has been a good thing for the Gold Coast.’

Ms Gates also warned about running electricity generators indoors.

She said four people had suffered carbon monoxide poisoning from doing so, but they had been treated in hospital and were recovering.

After days of waiting for Cyclone Alfred to hit our shores … we’re STILL waiting.

The Bureau of Meteorology had issued regular updates on the system’s slow progress as it barrelled towards Australia’s eastern seaboard at little more than 6km/h.

It was initially predicted to make landfall on Thursday… but that forecast was pushed back until late Thursday night… then Friday morning… Friday night… and then Saturday morning.

And the tardy storm still hasn’t arrived.

The Bureau’s Miriam Bradbury says the ex-tropical cyclone is still languishing off Bribie Island, about 80km north of Brisbane, where it has spent most the day.

‘We have seen very little change in the position of the system through the course of Saturday,’ she says.

‘[It’s] still lingering off Bribie Island, essentially stalled for the moment as an ex-tropical cyclone.’

The Bureau had been issuing hourly updates on the system’s location but gave up on that three hours ago.

The ABC reports there should be fresh details coming in within the next hour half – at least that’s faster than the former cyclone’s glacial pace.

Hundreds of thousands of Queenslanders have been warned they could be forced to wait up to a fortnight to have their electricity restored following the worst, widespread power outage since Cyclone Oswald struck more than a decade ago.

Almost 300,000 residents remain in darkness as ex-Tropical Cyclone Alfred settles over the state’s south-east.

The Gold Coast has been the hardest hit with 131,000 homes without power, followed by Redland City with 46,000 outages, Brisbane with 46,000, Logan 42,000, Moreton Bay Regional Council area 10,500, Scenic Rim 5,000, Ipswich 1,100, and 250 on the Sunshine Coast.

Energex spokesman Danny Donald says more than 1,000 crews would be deployed to make urgent repairs but the scale of the outages made it a daunting task.

‘In some of the least affected areas it’s going to take a few days but in some of the worst affected areas, it could take much more than a week and we could be sneaking up to two weeks,’ he says.

‘The Gold Coast has nearly half of the total number of outages in southeast Queensland.

‘Often the hinterland areas are really badly affected and it’s not just the network, it’s reaching the network where we have entire trees over roads and we also get flooding in those areas.’

Police have resumed their search for a 61-year-old man swept into raging floodwaters on Friday afternoon in northern NSW.

The motorist managed to escape his four-wheel drive after it was washed off Wild Cattle Creek Bridge, near Old Coramba Road in Megan, 23km northeast of Dorrigo, about 2.20pm on Friday.

The local resident managed to scramble his way to a tree branch about 30m from the riverbank and cling for the better part of an hour before being swept away shortly after 3pm.

He was last seen disappearing under water downstream.

Police say they have been in contact with man’s family but early attempts to search for him have been hampered by wild weather and severe flooding.

High wind speeds have so far prevented helicopters from assisting with the search.

Vast tracts of the Gold Coast’s sparkling sands have been washed away after being pummelled by ex-Tropical Cyclone Alfred.

Surfers Paradise alone has experienced a dramatic drop of eight metres while ocean surges continue to hammer the coastline.

Surf Life Saving Queensland confirmed that ‘100% of the Gold Coast is affected’ with beaches remaining closed while the city’s council works to assess the destruction.

Two lifesaving towers have been destroyed after being savaged by the storm.

It’s no longer a cyclone … but the fierce storm still looks like one – at least from space.

The Himawari-8 Japanese weather satellite has captured these stunning images of the ex-Tropical Cyclone Alfred as rumbled towards Bribie Island about 1pm on Saturday.

Lismore’s levee could be breached at any moment as the Wilsons River continues to swell in the midst of ongoing downpours.

NSW Premier Chris Minns says the government is doing everything it can to assist the city’s residents as they battle through a second devastating flood in just three years.

‘It’s close. In all candour, the latest models are it’s right on 10.8 metres, which could be just under or just over in various parts,’ Minns says.

‘We hope that it’s under but we’ve said right from the beginning of Cyclone Alfred that we would prepare for the worst and we would hope for the best.

‘I think if you come through town, there’s an enormous amount of resources in town and we’re ready for the possibility of it overflowing.

‘Obviously we hope that it doesn’t but it certainly could and if it does it’s likely to be today.’

Brisbane Airport is preparing to reopen after cyclone warnings closed it down.
The airport has advised staff that the transport hub will be ‘back to normal’ on Sunday morning.

Passengers are still being urged to check with their airline for flight confirmation details before making their way to the airport as staff work to clear the backlog of grounded travellers.

‘Work is underway now to restart operations at Brisbane Airport,’ a spokesperson says.

‘This will take some time as airlines re-position aircraft from around the country and staff are stood up.

‘Please do not come to the airport until you have a booking on a flight that is confirmed to depart.

‘We hope to be back to normal operations tomorrow.’

Gold Coast Airport also hopes to return to regular services on Sunday.

It was pitched as the Battle of Brisbane as millions of nervous residents sandbagged their homes and braced for impact as a ferocious category two cyclone thundered towards them.

Only for everyone to wake up on Saturday to little more than a thunderstorm.

So what happened to fearsome Cyclone Alfred?

Turns out the Queensland capital was saved by a string of eight islands sheltering the approach to Brisbane along Moreton Bay.

The tropical storm had already been weakening as it made its slow approach to the city at little more than ‘walking speed’ – or about 6km/h – and was reduced to a category one system overnight.

As the cyclone hammered into North Stradbroke, Moreton and Bribie Islands in the early hours of Saturday it lost even more of its ever-diminishing fury – and ceased to be classified as a cyclone at all.

Instead, it became a tropical low front with the island string saving the capital.

The protection offered by the islands is one of the reasons Moreton Bay colony was established on the site 200 hundred years ago in 1825 after the environment at the original location at Redcliffe was found to be unsuitable.

‘Tropical Cyclone Alfred reached southeast Queensland’s offshore islands around midnight last night as a Category 1 tropical cyclone,’ a bureau spokesperson confirmed.

‘On interacting with the islands, the system stalled and began weakening. Wind gusts eased, and as a result, the system dropped below cyclone intensity.’

The Gold Coast, which hugs the eastern seaboard without any protection, has no such islands to shield it.

But the city managed to avoid the full force of the storm’s brutal onslaught after the system shifted course and headed further north towards Bribie Island.

Millions of residents across Australia’s eastern seaboard are giving their umbrellas a workout today as storms ripple along the nation’s east coast.

Ex-Tropical Cyclone Alfred delivered massive deluges in excess of 100mm throughout southeast Queensland and northern NSW’s coastal fringe overnight.

And they weren’t the only ones in for a dousing.

The Bureau of Meteorology rainfall map reveals almost the entire NSW coastline copped at least a sprinkling leading into what is shaping as a wet weekend all-round.

Coles is beginning to reopen its supermarkets across southeast Queensland and northern NSW after Cyclone Alfred fizzled out into a tropical low system.

The grocery giant says it is gradually opening up its stores on a case-by-case basis after taking power outrages and staff availability into account.

It is already business as usual at Coles’ Toowoomba outlets and store managers are actively assessing other locations.

‘We are continuing to work closely with government, local authorities, and emergency services to ensure we can reopen as soon as it is safe to do so,’ a Coles spokesperson says.

Police are desperately trying to resume their search for a 61-year-old man washed from a bridge by raging floodwaters in the state’s north.

Authorities say the motorist was forced to abandon his four-wheel drive after trying to cross Wild Cattle Creek Bridge, near Old Coramba Road in Megan, 23km northeast of Dorrigo, about 2.20pm on Friday.

The man – believed to be a local – managed to fight his way to a tree branch about 30m from the river bank and cling for the better part of an hour before being swept away shortly after 3pm.

He was last seen disappearing under the water as he was hauled downstream.

Attempts to locate the man have been hampered by increasingly wild weather across the state’s north, with road access to the location now completely cut off by floods.

High winds ripping through the area have also prevented authorities from conducting a helicopter search for the driver.

Acting commander of Coffs Harbour Police District Guy Flaherty says emergency services are currently trying to access the area so they could resume the search.

‘There was a short period of time where (police) were able to engage with him,’ he says.

‘However, his position inside the flooded river prevented any emergency services from getting close to him and unfortunately he has been washed downstream.

‘Our concerns for him get worse hour to hour, but obviously we have to look at the safe ability to get in and access some of these waterways.’

Sydney will be kissed by the fringe of ex-Tropical Cyclone Alfred with heavy thunderstorms predicted to roll over the city across the weekend.

Gentle showers are expected to settle across Sydney on Saturday evening with more drizzle throughout Sunday.

Heavy falls of up to 60mm are then expected to douse the city’s west come Monday morning.

The forecast comes as the Bureau of Meteorology predicts the final remnants of Alfred will have petered out in the state’s north in the same time frame.

Bureau meteorologist Mick Logan says the heavy rainfalls in the storm’s key impact zones will ease throughout Saturday before largely wrapping up by the end of the weekend.

Although the risk of flooding will remain as the deluge washes through the region’s river systems, he says authorities should be able to assess the full impact of the storm by Monday morning.

‘So still heavy rainfall for the remainder of today and overnight tonight,’ he says.

‘There will still be water in the river systems moving down through those areas.

‘But we’ll understand exactly what we’re dealing with, certainly by late in the weekend and early Monday.’

The Bureau continues to warn heavy rainfalls may lead to flash flooding throughout parts of the Northern Rivers, Mid North Coast and Northern Tablelands on Saturday ‘and is expected to increase through inland parts of the warning area during Sunday’.

‘Six-hourly rainfall totals between 70 and 130mm are likely, increasing to around 200mm about the Border Ranges,’ the agency says.

‘(And) 24-hourly rainfall totals between 120 and 200mm are likely, increasing to between 200 to 250mm about the Dorrigo Range, and 200 and 300mm about the Border Ranges.’

Lismore residents are being warned that the worst is yet to come as flood waters threaten to cut off the northern NSW city.

The Wilsons River that snakes through the inland centre has already swollen to 9.04m and is still rising.

The Bureau of Meteorology predicts that major flooding is likely to occur around lunchtime and that the city’s 10.6m levee could be breached by mid-afternoon.

NSW SES Commissioner Mike Wassing warns the region will continue to cop a battering even though ex-Cyclone Alfred has been downgraded.

He described Saturday as ‘D-Day’.

‘We’re still seeing very strong winds – more importantly, we’re still seeing very heavy rainfalls, and therefore river rises, flash flooding and continued inundation of many areas,’ he says.

‘And certainly with the Wilson River, the predictions indicate that there will be rises and they’re likely to be further flooding.’

Lismore Mayor Steve Krieg says it is distressing news for a community still trying to rebuild in the wake of the devastating 2022 floods.

‘If our levee overtops especially, our town’s in a lot of trouble – just emotionally, financially, people are really struggling before this cyclone,’ he says.

Mr Wassing says the NSW SES has responded to more than 5200 disaster-related incidents since the storm started bearing down on the east coast.

They have also performed more than 30 flood rescues in the past 24 hours alone, with one man missing after he was washed from a bridge near Dorrigo.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese says there are ‘grave concerns’ for a man swept away by rising floodwaters in northern NSW.

Police say the motorist got caught in a flash flood after trying to cross Wild Cattle Creek Bridge, near Old Coramba Road, north-east of Dorrigo, in his four-wheel drive about 2.20pm on Friday.

The driver was forced to abandon his vehicle as the fast-moving flood began to pull it from the bridge but managed to cling onto a tree branch about 30m from the riverbank before he too was washed away.

He was last seen disappearing under the water as he was hauled downstream.

Attempts to locate the man have been hampered by increasingly wild weather across the state’s north, with road access to the location now completely cut off by floods.

High winds ripping through the area have also prevented authorities from conducting a helicopter search for the driver.

Anthony Albanese announced on Saturday disaster relief payments would be made available to Australians caught in the firing line of ex-Tropical Cyclone Alfred.

‘We stand ready to activate disaster payments,’ he said.

‘We won’t be waiting for the March 2025 Budget to do that. We will do so expeditiously as it appropriate.

‘The Australian Government Disaster Recovery Payment is a one-off payment of $1,000 per adult and $400 for a child, for people who have been badly affected by the disaster and need immediate help.

‘That is activated 40 hours after the initial impact. The Disaster Recovery Allowance is a payment for up to 13 weeks for people who are unable to work as a direct result of the disaster.’

He added: ‘There are also jointly funded payments between the Commonwealth and the state, so they are activated by the states.

‘There is a personal hardship assistance scheme. States can choose to activate these payments which cover immediate personal costs like replacing food, medical supplies, clothing, and essential household items like bed linen and whitegoods.

‘That is activated by the states.’

After days of booming disaster warnings, millions of anxious residents woke this morning to the news the much-hyped Tropical Cyclone Alfred lurking off Australia’s east coast wasn’t the category two behemoth it has been built up to be.

Or even technically a cyclone anymore.

The slow-moving system, which is still lingering off the coast near Bribie Island and is not expected to thunder onto the mainland for another hour or two, has been downgraded to a tropical low.

The Bureau of Meteorology is urging people to refrain from celebrating just yet, insisting the storm will still wreak havoc across south-east Queensland and northern NSW.

‘Now, just as a reminder to everyone, the category of tropical cyclone is based on the wind strength and wind gust speed,’ Bureau meteorologist Miriam Bradbury says.

‘That means we’ve seen those winds backing off over the last few hours, leading to that weakening in the system.

‘However, it doesn’t speak to the rain and flooding risk that we’re still anticipating.

‘The system is no longer a tropical cyclone, but significant, severe weather warnings and flood warnings remain in place, flagging that risk of heavy rainfall, flash flooding and riverine flooding through the rest of today and going into tomorrow.’

Still, the warnings have done little to stem the backlash against the Bureau on social media for ‘crying wolf’ and over-selling the threat posed by the tempest throughout the week.

And now the memes and videos poking fun at the Bureau are starting to flood in too.
One post shows two men in a police interrogation cell, along with the question ‘Is the cyclone in the room with us now?’

While another praises brave Queenslanders’ determination to ‘rebuild’ in the wake of the carnage caused by the storm by fixing up a blown over deck chair.

Another not-so-bemused resident has posted a comic video highlighting the ‘terrifying’ damage the cyclone caused in his backyard.

Authorities warned the weather system would be the first cyclone to hit south-east Queensland and northern NSW in 50 years before it was downgraded to a tropical low on Saturday.

Almost two dozen people were forced to make an emergency evacuation from an apartment complex on the Gold Coast in the dead of the night as the city was hammered by fierce winds.

Acting Queensland Police Commissioner Shane Chelepy says officers were called out to almost 90 disaster-related jobs overnight, while the SES responded to an additional 77 incidents.

So far there has been no loss of life or missing persons reports as a result of the thundering weather system.

‘Which is frankly terrific at this stage,’ he says.

‘We did see an apartment complex on Labrador on the Gold Coast suffer damage.

‘Twenty-one people were safely evacuated from that apartment complex and are now in our evacuation centres, with one lady suffering minor injuries, but she is in good health.’

He says there were no reports of ‘significant’ property damage as the storm rolled over Stradbroke Island and Moreton Island.

‘There are communication outages, particularly in the Gold Coast hinterland area,’ he says.

‘Most of those communication outages are related to power and we will see majority of them come back on as the power gets restored in those areas.’

Mr Chelepy also urges people in flood-affected areas to remain vigilant and be ready to leave if water levels continue to rise.

‘Yesterday the emergency services continued to doorknock over 2,000 homes at our flood-risk areas — flood maps for these areas are available on the council dashboards, so can I ask you to familiarise yourself with those areas,’ he says.

‘Don’t wait for the police to knock on your door.’

Queensland Premier David Crisafulli warns heavy deluges and severe flooding remain the greatest threats as ex-Tropical Cyclone Alfred unleashes a torrential downpour on the state’s southeast.

‘The challenges now are flash flooding, creek rises. They remain a real prospect with some of the rainfall predicted in the days ahead,’ Mr Crisafulli says.

‘We have to be ready for that prospect. With swollen catchments, the risk of flash flooding remains, I’m asking Queenslanders to continue to stay vigilant.

‘Just to give you an indication of what occurred in the past 19 hours, we’ve had 240 millimetres recorded at Springbrook, 200 millimetres at Tallebudgera and 100 millimetres at Mount Cotton.’

Mr Crisafulli adds that while there had been some significant property damage overnight, the region had been spared the worst ravages with the tropical system weakening substantially this morning before reaching the mainland.

‘We’ve had quite a few instances of trees falling on homes, cars and powerlines.’

He says almost 250,000 homes remain without power across the storm’s impact zone and that more 2,000 emergency personnel are in position and ready to make urgent repairs as soon as conditions ease.

‘This is the single biggest loss (in power) we have seen in over a decade since (cyclone) Oswald,’ he says.

‘Queenslanders need to know know that right now there are damage assessments being done and already crews are being mobilised to get that job done.

‘A quarter of a million homes without power is a massive task, but it is a massive task that they are up to.’

Several key services have also loss connection to the power grid and are running on generators, he says, including the Gold Coast University Hospital and water treatment plants in Alexandra Hills and Mount Cotton.

‘There are generators on site and staff are urgently attempting to reconnect those, and it is a race against the clock to try to do that in the minutes and hours ahead before those reservoirs run out of water,’ he says.

There is already a storm brewing on social media with irked residents accusing the Bureau of Meteorology of overzealous fearmongering about the potential impact of now ex-Tropical Cyclone Alfred.

The agency spent much of the past week issuing dire warnings south-east Queensland and northern NSW would be devastated by the category two system – the first to hit the region in more than half a century – when it eventually made landfall.

But with the storm downgraded to a category one system overnight and again to a tropical low this morning, people are now unleashing their own fury online.

‘Cyclone Alfred is a tropical low. The BOM  talked it up and scared people,’ one user says.

Another adds: ‘Meteorologists just joined politicians and journalists as the most untrustworthy, dishonest ponces in Australia.’

Some are frustrated by the time and expensive seemingly wasted preparing for a cyclone to hit.

‘All that work and money spent on preparation for some drizzle,’ one user says. ‘The mosquitoes are more dangerous than this supposed cat2/tropical low.’

‘So it’s a low…ffs,’ another use says before someone replies: ‘Haha of course but they shut the city down and public transport for that.’

Others mocked the Bureau for ‘crying wolf’ and described the fierce storm as ‘a fizzer’.

However, authorities have been quick to point out that while the country has been spared the full wrath of a destructive cyclone, the category system only relates to a storm’s wind speeds, and the impact zone will still be inundated with damaging floods.

NSW SES Deputy Commissioner Deb Platts is urging people to remain vigilant even though Cyclone Alfred has been downgraded to a tropical low, warning rain and floods will continue for days.

‘This is a very dynamic and widespread system,’ she said on the Today show.

‘We know that this system, because it’s such a large system, is going to keep up the winds and the rain for potentially up to three, four, five days.

‘The wind in particular, we know, is hitting parts of north-east NSW. We’re seeing debris flying around trees and power lines that are down.’

The SES has been called out to 26 flood rescues, mostly for people driving through floodwaters, in the past 24 hours alone and drivers are being urged to stay off the roads.

‘What we’re seeing now is the rivers start to rise and we will continually see that rising in most areas,’ she says.

‘How that impacts downstream is what is concerning us.’

Authorities are warning residents to brace for devastating floods despite Cyclone Alfred being downgraded to a tropical low.

The Bureau of Meteorology says the category rating system only relates to wind speeds, and has nothing to do with the amount of rain that will be dumped across the impact zone in the coming days.

‘In this case, Alfred is going to bring a lot of rain, whether it is a tropical cyclone or whether it is a tropical low,’ the Bureau’s Angus Hines tells the ABC.

‘Tomorrow, it will be inland areas which start seeing severe falls and so the hinterland, the Scenic Rim, parts of (the) Darling Downs and Queensland, and then parts of the Northern Tablelands.’

He also predicts regions south of the eye of the storm will be hardest hit by the storm and its torrential downpours.

His warning comes amid fears the Wilsons River will break its levee in South Lismore in the next couple of hours amid widespread flooding throughout northern NSW.

Lismore Mayor Steve Krieg says it is distressing news for a community still trying to rebuild in the wake of the devastating 2022 floods.

‘If our levee overtops especially, our town’s in a lot of trouble – just emotionally, financially, people are really struggling before this cyclone,’ he says.

Anthony Albanese has been slammed for revealing he will not call an election date this weekend due to ex-Tropical Cyclone Alfred.

Mr Albanese made the revelation on ABC’s 7.30 program on Friday, arguing he would not announce the election date on Saturday or Sunday while the government focused on the incoming cyclone.

The federal election was widely expected to be held on April 12, however it is now believed it will be held in May.

The tropical cyclone has since been downgraded to a tropical low.

Aussies took to social media platform X to slam the news, with many accusing Mr Albanese of using the storm to his political advantage.

‘Cyclone isn’t going to the last until April 12. Election must be held by May. Is a month really going to change much?’ one wrote.

‘Call the election! No excuses! We want time to test the candidates. We want debates on the issues. We want change,’ another added.

‘Delaying the inevitable bloodbath Labor will be experience,’ a third wrote.

Emergency crews have been inundated with calls for help as flash floods wreak havoc across large stretches of the country’s east coast.

The NSW SES says it has received more than 8,800 calls and responded to more than 5,062 incidents throughout the state’s north-east as Cyclone Alfred thunders towards the mainland.

As of 5am on Saturday, more than 16,000 residents have been evacuated across the region, with 31,000 homes subject to warnings as a result of severe flooding.

Millions of residents across south-east Queensland and northern NSW are bracing for ex-Tropical Cyclone Alfred to hit the mainland within hours.

The slow-moving storm has been on a collision course with the densely populated corridor for days and is predicted to finally strike this morning.

The system is currently about 40km off the Sunshine Coast, and 65km northeast of Brisbane, and is expected to make landfall between Maroochydore and Bribie Island this morning.

Although the cyclone has been downgraded overnight, it is still expected to batter the region with wind gusts of up to 85km/h.

Heavy rainfalls are now expected to be the most dangerous aspect of the storm, with major flooding predicted throughout the region.

Almost a quarter of a million homes are without power across south-east Queensland while close to 50,000 homes have lost electricity in northern NSW after the regions were lashed by storms ahead of the cyclone.

Authorities warn even more homes are likely to lose power when the full force of the storm hits today and that the blackouts could last days.

Public transport has been shut down throughout the impact zone, along with major supermarket chains and most businesses.

All planes have been grounded at Brisbane and Gold Coast airports and flights suspended for the duration of the storm, with Qantas predicting air travel will resume from Sunday morning.

Thousands of homes have been plunged into darkness overnight with almost 250,000 properties now without power in Queensland.

Close to 50,000 houses are also without electricity south of the border in northern NSW, with authorities warning the outages could last for days.

The Gold Coast has been the hardest hit by blackouts with almost 120,000 homes affected.

More homes are expected to lose power throughout the morning as storms continue to batter the coast and bring down power lines.

Tropical Cyclone Alfred has been downgraded to a category one system as it hits Queensland’s outer islands.

As of 4am, the cyclone was close to Bribie Island and moving 10km/h to the mainland with 65km/h winds near the centre and gusts of up to 95km/h.

It was 55km northeast of Brisbane and 55km southeast of Maroochydore, and is expected to make landfall in the next few hours.

As Alfred crosses the coast, it is forecast to weaken below tropical cyclone strength.

Despite its weakening, heavy rainfall, wind and high swells are likely to continue over southeast Queensland and northeast NSW during the weekend.

The warning zone has been reduced from 650km to 160km, and now stretches from Noosa to Brisbane, but doesn’t include the Queensland capital.