Emergency services are on edge as Cyclone Alfred threatens to bring destructive winds, torrential rain and a storm surge. (Broadcast March 5, 2025) | Subscribe here: http://9Soci.al/v6PJ50GjSKI
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Stream full episodes on 9Now: https://9now.app.link/5Kxzlq5dX6
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A Current Affair covers the realms of politics, crime, human rights, science, technology, celebrities and entertainment - all investigated by a dedicated team. A Current Affair airs weeknights at 7.00pm on Channel 9
#9ACA #ACurrentAffair
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NewsTranscript
00:00There's no sugar coating what's coming, a monster cyclone that's gaining strength
00:05and the danger zone is enormous, stretching 500 kilometres.
00:10As the skies turn grey and the window to leave narrows, millions are holding their breath.
00:16Prepare, take this seriously, this is a rare event.
00:33A tropical cyclone hitting Queensland's most populated areas in the south east
00:38hasn't happened in 50 years. The destructive winds are the first danger, the torrential rain
00:45and the storm surge, potentially coinciding with a high tide, have emergency services on edge.
00:51Places that don't usually flood, like here at Biggera Waters on the Gold Coast,
00:56are expected to be inundated.
00:58Police have already door knocked every home in this suburb and told them the safest thing to do
01:03is to pack up and leave. You can see that home across the canal there has already heeded the
01:08warning but every house in this area is in the firing line and you can see a little place like
01:15this converted boat shack just how vulnerable it is to the surge that's coming with Tropical Cyclone Alfred.
01:23Russell and Sue call this home and have been told by police now is the time to leave.
01:28They said no one's coming back for you so and like we'll be the first to go.
01:326,000 homes on the Gold Coast are in the surge zone that could potentially go under.
01:38We've packed everything, it's in the car now and we're just going to put the bed in there and then
01:42go and put it in storage. It's going to clear out. Yeah we have to. If the worst fears of Cyclone Alfred
01:47come true, sandbagging won't do much to help. How bad have they said that it might get here?
01:53About four metres, maybe two metres above the roof. Two metres above the roof? Yeah.
01:58We already know we won't be able to come back here, it'll be gone so it's pretty sad really.
02:02All throughout the Gold Coast canals residents are deciding whether to stay
02:07or go. Trevor Long is staying. This surge is going to come straight in your way. What have
02:12you been doing to prepare? Look I am worried about it. The boat's an issue but also everything that
02:18you see here. So what we've done, we've been over, we've cleared everything, we've put chairs in the
02:23pool, all the chairs are inside. The former boss of marine science at SeaWorld has seen plenty of
02:28king tides and is hoping his place is high enough to stay safe in a cyclonic swell. But I've never
02:35seen it come over that wall. I honestly believe that's going to come well over that wall. So we're
02:40still reasonably high above it but there's a lot of houses in the bigger water area that are low
02:46and they're going to be a problem. These are the Gold Coast sovereign islands. This is some of the
02:51most expensive real estate anywhere in Australia. It's all built on reclaimed land with developers
02:58conquering Mother Nature to build mansions right there in the middle of the water. Well Mother
03:04Nature is about to have another date with this development when the cyclone surge rolls through.
03:10Among the celebrity residents here, Clive Palmer who owns a string of waterfront mansions,
03:16one of them last listed for sale at 24 million dollars. All of these properties are in the
03:22potential flood zone from the storm surge. Do you think Clive's house will survive? Oh I don't know
03:29yet. I honestly don't know. Did you ever think you'd be in this position with a cyclone sort of
03:34bearing down on you? Not on the Gold Coast. No you don't expect it do you? In Brisbane, residents have
03:40been preparing for days with long queues for sandbags. Queensland Police today outdoor knocking
03:46residents in the most vulnerable spots, in particular the elderly like 96 year old Roy Edward.
03:53It's a package deal. You've got worried about winds, you're worrying about
03:59flooding. Roy has survived cyclones when he lived in far north Queensland.
04:04Now he lives in Brighton on Brisbane's bayside which is one of the areas to be impacted by the
04:09storm surge. None of our houses have been tested in a cyclone really and so that's a concern.
04:1990 year old Marjorie Holland also lives in Brighton. Her waterfront views are about to
04:24become a little scary. She's planning to stay and ride it out. Just play it by ear and hope for the
04:30best. Go to bed and put a blanket over your head. Daryl Cameron is a retired police officer who
04:36lived through Brisbane's 1974 floods. Well obviously it's not going to be good because
04:43it's been 50 odd years since we've seen anything like that at the grand scale they expect it to be
04:49this time. He and wife Deb have made the decision to pack up their low-lying home at Lota and leave.
04:55Pretty anxious about the whole thing. We've never been through anything like this as bad
05:00and we hope it doesn't get too bad. Brisbane has endured two major floods in the past 14 years but
05:07a cyclone hitting is potentially more dangerous. If it was the case that this system which has
05:14strengthened was to cross on high tide in the middle of the night and you're in that storm
05:21surge the last place you want to be is in your home. From tonight Australia's third largest
05:26capital city will be a ghost town reminiscent of COVID days. Schools and daycares will close
05:32tomorrow. All public transport goes offline tonight and major crossings like the Gateway
05:39Bridge and the historic Story Bridge will shut down once wind speeds hit 90 kilometres an hour.
05:46Police will be granted extra powers to keep the community safe using force if necessary.
05:52Shane Chalepi from Queensland Police. Police will go around and at a point say to people
05:58you need to leave your home. Alfred's also brought the spin of an unofficial federal election
06:04campaign to a halt. I'm here. The Prime Minister rushing to Emergency Management Queensland HQ.
06:12Premier Christopher and I in at risk of damaging both of our careers get on pretty well.
06:18Anthony Albanese ordering the army and helicopters from the national firefighting
06:23fleet to be positioned around southeast Queensland from tonight. There's no tweed
06:28border here. This is not recognised by the cyclone and it certainly shouldn't be recognised by
06:35government's responses. Across the border in Lismore businesses are preparing for the worst
06:40terrified of another repeat of their flood disaster three years ago. There's no point
06:46sitting in a corner and rocking from side to side you've just got to get on with it.
06:50Cyclone and flood refuge centres will open across Brisbane from tomorrow morning.
06:55Lord Mayor Adrian Schrinner warning an entire city to stay home for the next 48 hours. People
07:02should not be out tomorrow and the next day at the very least. I don't want to see one single
07:07person electrocuted. I don't want to see one single person impacted by flying debris. The
07:13best way we can make that happen is for everyone to stay at home for the next two days at the very
07:17least. Yep and that window to evacuate is narrowing. In the past hour I spoke with the
07:24Queensland Premier David Crisafulli. Premier thanks for taking the time to chat. It's a
07:31strange waiting game we're in. How worried are you about what's coming? There's no doubt that
07:36this is a serious threat and we're asking Queenslanders to be prepared and I hope they've
07:41seen how seriously we're taking it and we've done the preparations. We've put the things in place
07:46that need to be done but ultimately everyone has a role to play and the window is closing for you
07:53to do those things and we're asking Queenslanders to get all the latest up-to-date information,
07:59make sure that you're well prepared in whatever your decision is, whether you are choosing to
08:04leave or you're choosing to stay, make sure you've got all that information in place and
08:08that's why we've continued to make sure that that disaster.qld.gov.au website is constantly updated.
08:16We know most people are doing the right thing but are you finding some are just perhaps a little
08:20bit too relaxed? Overwhelmingly people are doing the right thing and I understand it's a real risk
08:25but you'll always have an element of people who are a bit suspicious and my message to them is
08:31that all of the modelling, every model is showing that this will cross the coast and it will cross
08:37it as a cyclone and you know it's not unprecedented but it's very very rare and it's been half a
08:44century since a system of this size crossed this far south. Ultimately there's three areas that
08:51we're focusing on, we're starting with those bay islands which will be the first that get impacted,
08:56we've then articulated to people through the councils about those areas that could be impacted
09:01by those storm surges and you will see that information on those websites and then if you're
09:07in those usual flood zones well then Queenslanders know how to handle that. If you're one of the
09:12residents who that doesn't apply to and that's the vast majority of Queenslanders, the best place
09:17for you to be is in your home. Make sure that you've got your important possessions in a box
09:22and have tinned food and water and just do those little things and it makes a world of difference.
09:29You just made the point there, I mean you're dealing with a different beast here and when
09:32you have something like four million people in the firing line can you give us a sense of what
09:37it might be like when Alfred hits land in the middle of the night possibly at high tide?
09:44Well that's the big risk and what we're saying to Queenslanders is you need to prepare for that risk
09:48if the system was to cross at high tide it is in the middle of the night, we're talking about one
09:53o'clock in the morning, that's the last time you want to have to be getting rescued from your house
09:57so know the area that you're in and if you can go and stay with friends and family that's the
10:02safest place that you can be and in the end people matter so much more than property so
10:09put yourself first, stay safe.
10:11Premier can you actually get your head around the enormity of the stretch of land that's
10:16potentially being impacted and as you say this is going to come in waves from the destructive winds
10:22to then the rain to the flooding and I know that Queensland is a resilient bunch but what you're
10:28looking at here I mean it could take it's days, months, possibly years to recover.
10:35Yeah look we've seen big systems far bigger systems than this cross the coast over the
10:41years and of course we've seen the devastation that comes from that, your point is so valid
10:46in this case it's the sheer enormity and the population that is in the firing line but we've
10:53prepared and we've pre-positioned and to give an indication we've got a thousand electricity
10:58workers from Energex who are waiting standing hand in hand with contractors who'll come in
11:04and clear the debris to enable them to reconnect power because it's so important to get power back
11:09on after a disaster. We've done a lot of work to prepare here and overwhelmingly so too of
11:13Queenslanders so my job is to give people the information and allow them to make a decision,
11:19my job is to make sure we've got the preparation in place and Queenslanders will respond, they do,
11:24we are, we're that kind of people, we are resilient people, we're a pretty tough state
11:29and I've got every faith that people will come through. Yes it's unusual, it's not unprecedented
11:35and people will get through it. You know who else is also tough is the people of northern
11:39New South Wales who are also going to cop this and I guess I want to know are we in this together
11:44because does a border mean anything in a disaster like this? It should mean nothing and it doesn't
11:50mean anything at the moment I can promise you. I spoke to Premier Minns this morning, he was one of
11:54the first calls I received today and I just want people to know that we are working together. From
12:00day dot we've had the New South Wales SES join our calls and whilst obviously our focus is where
12:07it will cross and the impact on our state, we are working together and the last thing we want to see
12:12is a beautiful little community like Lismore impacted again, they've been through more than
12:15enough. So the preparations are happening across the border and the response and the recovery will
12:21happen across borders and we're all Australians and we love the country and we live in the best
12:27part of the world and despite the challenges mother nature does throw at us. Yep, beautifully
12:31said Premier and hey look I know all of your focus has been getting your state ready to get
12:36through this, how about your own family and your own home in Brisbane? Well we're like all
12:41Queenslanders, we have to prepare too and that that's my message during this, no one is immune
12:47from this, everyone has to take it seriously but overwhelmingly I think people get that and I want
12:52people to know we are taking it seriously, we're working with all levels of government, all agencies
12:58are leaning into it and we are taking it seriously and on the back of that we can then shift from
13:04response to recovery. There won't be one bit of daylight between our response and our recovery
13:10and Queenslanders need to know that and we will be there, we'll see it through and I've got every
13:15faith that across the board we'll get through it. How's your family, are they okay? Yeah and family
13:21at the other end of the state who've been impacted too, I've got friends and family in Ingham who
13:26copped the brunt of the floods there, it's a challenging time of year but you wouldn't live
13:32anywhere else. All right well look we know you have some huge days ahead and you've been very
13:35busy, thank you so much for your time Premier and good luck. Really appreciate yours and thanks for
13:40all the well wishes from across the country. And let's just hope that those told to leave have now
13:45done so. Well Thomas Hinterdorfer has chased some of the biggest storms around the world and now his
13:52own home is under threat. The meteorologist lives just south of Brisbane in the firing line of
13:58Alfred and he joins me now. Thomas what is the very latest on the cyclone, what exactly is coming
14:04and when? Well good evening, yeah the tropical cyclone is rated as a category two right now,
14:13located offshore from southeast Queensland and moving towards the west. We are anticipating that
14:20the tropical cyclone Alfred will make landfall over southeast Queensland during the overnight
14:26hours of Thursday into Friday as a high-end category two system, bringing obviously widespread
14:32damaging to destructive winds and an absolute tonne of rain which will obviously cause a lot
14:37of flash flooding as well as some potential river and creek flooding. And then of course the storm
14:42surge on top of that which will be impacting a lot of communities along the coastline south of
14:47the landfall of the system. So when you say high-end category two what does that mean?
14:51Well we're looking at winds in excess of 150 kilometers an hour, possibly up around that 155
14:57or 160 mark, just below category three strength. So this system has the potential to cause quite
15:04a bit of damage, especially when we're going through very heavily populated areas and very
15:12very heavily impact zone areas as well. Yeah and look hitting land when it's dark, I mean I imagine
15:18Yeah and look hitting land when it's dark, I mean I imagine that makes things
15:21a whole lot trickier and more dangerous.
15:26Absolutely, yeah we would, we hate to see this come through at night. Obviously there's that
15:32unknown factor, you're going to hear a lot of sounds that you're just not used to and they're
15:37going to be relentless, the howling, the squealing of the winds, they'll be relentless, there'll be
15:41a lot of banging and crashing. Obviously all of that is quite scary, it's very new for a lot of
15:48people in this area. We're not used to tropical cyclones coming down this way and impacting
15:54us in southeast Queensland or northeast New South Wales. And can you explain who is in for the
15:59roughest ride? Is it Brisbane, is it Gold Coast or is it further south in northern New South Wales?
16:05We believe that there's actually going to be a very expansive part of the coastline between
16:11anywhere from the Sunshine Coast down to the northern rivers and mid-north coast of New South
16:16Wales. An expansive part of this part of the coastline is going to see those winds of 120, 130
16:25and higher, as well as the torrential rain that comes with the system as it makes landfall and
16:31the system as it makes landfall and the aftermath, as well as of course that storm surge and the
16:36coastal inundations that come with it. Because as a meteorologist you have chased over a hundred
16:42tornadoes in the US. When it comes to storms, how does this one stack up?
16:50This one's a little different of course because I'm at home, my home is now being impacted, I'm not
16:55over in the states chasing tornadoes. This one is definitely a little bit different,
17:00it's a little bit surreal. It feels very eerie at the moment. Even the conditions today,
17:06while they have been deteriorating, they haven't been too bad where we live here.
17:11Just the odd bit of wind, the odd bit of rain, it feels really ominous, it feels really eerie and
17:17it's just this unknown factor I guess. And look hopefully it is not as bad as we're expecting,
17:22but say it is, where is the safest place in the home to shelter?
17:29We believe the safest place in the home is in your home of course, not out about in the
17:34cyclone. But anywhere from the most interior room in your house to a bathroom and ideally with a
17:42mattress over you, it's just that little bit of extra protection. Try and stay away from windows
17:48and doors that could obviously break or blow in, but if you've got a mattress over you it is that
17:53little bit of extra protection. We're sort of speaking to you now as the expert but also you're
17:58going to go through this yourself. Are you worried about what's going to happen to you, to your own
18:02home? Of course, I am concerned but we also have a very big community that we are broadcasting to
18:13ourselves. We need to worry about everyone else or I'm worrying about everyone else and I'll
18:20honestly just worry about myself later. At the end of the day we're all in this together, we're all
18:26in this as a community and it's time that everyone does come together as a community, as a family to
18:32get through this. Yeah and we're seeing that. Thomas you know your stuff, stay safe and thank you so much.
18:37Thank you. And to anyone who is feeling scared or anxious ahead of what is coming, just remember
18:42to follow the advice, stay inside and you can call for help if you need it.