As Tropical Cyclone Alfred approaches the coast, we're warned to brace for three natural disasters rolled into one: cyclonic winds, heavy rain, and flooding. The tropical cyclone is expected to make landfall in the dead of night, between Brisbane and the Gold Coast, with northern New South Wales also likely to endure the full force of its fury. Subscribe to 10 News First to get the latest updates and breaking news: https://bit.ly/37DDbL1
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00:00We are being warned to brace for three natural disasters rolled into one.
00:04Cyclonic winds, a vast amount of rain and flooding as Alfred bears down on the east coast.
00:11The tropical cyclone is expected to make landfall in the dead of night between Brisbane and the
00:16Gold Coast, with northern New South Wales also likely to cop the full brunt of its fury.
00:22And what's worse, it'll sweep across the beaches at high tide, causing another huge surge of water.
00:29This is the situation from above, a satellite view from the Bureau of Meteorology.
00:34The eye of the storm currently forming 300 kilometres off the coast of Brisbane.
00:40Well shortly we will be hearing from our reporters at Byron Bay and the Gold Coast,
00:44but first it's clear Alfred is already making himself known along the coast.
00:50Alfred's eye may still be hundreds of kilometres off the coast,
00:55but its fury is already plain to see.
00:59It's crazy.
00:59But yeah, I think we're on for a show, that's for sure.
01:02Wind, the waves inundating the Gold Coast sand and beyond on the high tide today,
01:09sending beachgoers scrambling.
01:11I've lived here for 50 years and never seen it this bad.
01:14Locals learning lessons from yesterday when freak waves took over the car park at Corumbin
01:20and nearly swept away two vehicles.
01:22Yeah, it's mental. The storm's gonna be bad, but it swells nice and big to watch.
01:28Just a tiny taste of the danger to come.
01:31Prepare, take this seriously, this is a rare event.
01:36Alfred slowing down and strengthening,
01:38now expected to make landfall between Brisbane and the Gold Coast around 2am Friday.
01:44High tide is at 1am, a double whammy in the dead of night.
01:49We will see elevated sea levels between a half to one metre
01:53above the normal highest tides that people see.
01:56In Brisbane, the scramble to sandbag.
01:58People are, you know, helping each other out and a lot of goodwill I think today.
02:02Police door knocking, even evacuating low-lying nursing homes,
02:06others packing their cars in case.
02:09Construction cranes like the city being shut down.
02:12Tomorrow, Friday, please stay indoors. It is the safest place for you.
02:17Public transport has been cancelled, major roads and bridges will close.
02:22Once winds reach 90 kilometres an hour, that's the trigger point.
02:24Authorities on the Gold Coast already mapping which homes,
02:28streets and suburbs will go under as travel plans sit in disarray.
02:33We don't know when we're going to be getting home.
02:35Flights in and out of the Gold Coast Airport were cancelled from 4pm.
02:39Ballina Byron Airport flights have also been scrapped.
02:42Aircraft, including helicopters with winch capabilities, are on standby.
02:47The ADF resources are now also ready to respond.
02:50Northern New South Wales likely to cop some of the worst rain and wind
02:54from Alfred's southern flank.
02:57Officials say they're ready for the worst case scenario.
03:00Our planning is for something akin to the 2022 natural disaster in Lismore.
03:05More than 230 schools have already closed,
03:08from the border to Yamba and inland to Kyogle.
03:1215 evacuation centres open this afternoon
03:15across the Tweed Byron and Northern Rivers regions.
03:18If people feel like they are in unsafe locations,
03:21now is the time to relocate.
03:23And a new headache for the NRL.
03:24After shifting Friday's Gold Coast game and players to Sydney,
03:29the wife of Dolphin star Cody Nicarima
03:32has lashed out about families being left behind.
03:36I'm six months pregnant with two young kids in an area that can flood.
03:40Disgusting. Do better, NRL.
03:42We're making sure we can do whatever we can to make people feel more comfortable
03:46and put our players' and partners' minds at ease.
03:49As two states stare down one common threat.
03:54There's no Tweed border here.
03:56This is not recognised by the cyclone.
03:59Daniel Sutton for 10 News First.
04:02So let's get to our reporters standing by
04:04in key locations in the states north and in Brisbane.
04:07So first to Chris Campy at Byron Bay.
04:09Chris, Northern New South Wales is particularly vulnerable
04:13with water levels expected to be quite damaging.
04:16That's right, Sandra, that's because a lot of those coastal areas
04:22are going to meet this cyclone system on top of a king tide.
04:27That means we could see water levels
04:29half a metre above the highest possible king tide level.
04:32That means for areas, especially such as Ballina,
04:35where they do experience inundation, that could be quite a threat.
04:38There's a lot of low-lying areas along this coastline.
04:41Already the area from the Queensland border
04:43to south of Nambucca Heads
04:45is now under this severe weather alert.
04:47And we are feeling the first touches, I suppose,
04:50of Tropical Cyclone Alfred.
04:52Already today we've seen wind speeds
04:54around 100km an hour at Cape Byron.
04:57That lighthouse is closed.
04:58There are a few people on this beach having a look,
05:00but up there tourism is over for now
05:03until the conditions get better.
05:05But it is the flood threat that will come after this.
05:08Residents want you in those evacuation centres.
05:10They are all open now
05:12as we wait to see what comes next.
05:14Alright, Chris in Byron Bay, keep us updated.
05:17Brendan Smith is on the Gold Coast.
05:19I think it's Kirra, in fact.
05:20Brendan, clearly conditions there are worsening by the hour.
05:26Sandra, they are indeed.
05:27In the last half an hour or so,
05:28those waves are continuing to crash onto the beach here at Kirra.
05:32They are absolutely massive.
05:34There are still a couple of surfers there risking it to catch a wave
05:38despite multiple beach closures
05:41across the Gold Coast and New South Wales.
05:44Now, we know as well today,
05:46places like Corrumban being absolutely smashed by massive swell.
05:50We see so many homes as well on the Esplanade areas
05:53just sandbagging, desperately trying to save their homes
05:57from any flooding that does occur from this evening.
06:00We know Gold Coast City Council has issued
06:02that Watch and Act Alert for the impending cyclone.
06:06They say that people need to seek shelter by six o'clock tonight.
06:10We know as well schools from tomorrow across Queensland will be closing.
06:14The advice from the Premier is to stay safe and stay with friends
06:18if you are too close to the ocean.
06:21The SES as well is on standby to help anyone in need.
06:25Just driving here before, Sandra,
06:27we saw so many people still desperately trying to get sandbags
06:31to bring it back to their home.
06:32There's plenty more clouds rolling in.
06:34And as I say, the wind is simply getting stronger by the minute.
06:38So there's plenty more wild weather to come here in Kirra.
06:42Indeed, these conditions should not be underestimated.
06:44Brendan Smith with the latest there at the Gold Coast.
06:47Let's bring in our own meteorologist, Josh Holt.
06:50Josh, you have seen so many cyclones over the years.
06:53These are extremely dangerous conditions right now
06:56and they're only getting worse with no let up in sight.
06:58That's exactly 100% correct.
07:00We've just hit the point of no return.
07:02What do I mean by that?
07:03Well, from this point onwards,
07:05the situation is going to deteriorate rapidly and I'll explain why.
07:09What we've got is the cyclone approaching.
07:11We know that.
07:12Here's the forecast track map,
07:13but it's not when the cyclone makes landfall
07:16that we start to see the severe weather.
07:18As you can see here,
07:19the gale force winds and destructive wind barrier
07:23precede the cyclone.
07:24So we're seeing that gale force wind boundary
07:27now start to push onto the southeast Queensland coast.
07:30Cape Byron gusting at well over 100 kilometres per hour
07:33and those wind speeds slowly but surely
07:35starting to now pick up across areas of the Gold Coast.
07:38Now, I want to also stress that it is going to cross
07:41as a high-end Category 2
07:43but possibly a low-end severe Category 3 system.
07:46Why is that?
07:47Well, just in the last hour,
07:48we're starting to see a more well-defined eye
07:50on the satellite imagery.
07:51That's a clear indication the system is getting stronger,
07:54gathering strength.
07:55It's also going to move over
07:57some very warm sea surface temperatures
07:59right next to the southeast Queensland coast
08:01and the northeast New South Wales coast
08:04and that could intensify the system further as well.
08:06Obviously, the southern side of the eye,
08:08that is where we're going to see
08:09the heaviest of the rain and the strongest winds
08:12and I've got grave concerns
08:13for the northeast of New South Wales
08:14over the coming days.
08:16Widespread totals of 500 millimetres,
08:18could see 1,000 millimetres in elevated areas
08:21and six-hour rain rates of 250 millimetres
08:24in six-hour periods.
08:25That's enough to cause life-threatening flash floods
08:27and obviously, we've got quite a bit of concern as well
08:29for Grafton, the Clarence River
08:31and Lismore, the Wilsons River,
08:33over the coming days.