Widespread power outages as TC Alfred brings gale-force winds
Gale-force winds accompanying the storm have already hit a large stretch of the Queensland and NSW coast. This has led to widespread power outages.
As of 5.30am, Queensland’s Energex power network was reporting 28,655 customer outages across south-east Queensland, all attributed to “damage due to cyclone”.
In NSW, the provider Essential Energy said that as of 6am, Cyclone Alfred had left more than 35,000 homes and businesses without power in northern NSW overnight after severe winds and heavy rain covered the region.
The worst hit communities were in the Northern Rivers and far north coast. The company said in an online update:
Essential Energy crews worked late into the evening to restore what they could safely until conditions became too dangerous to work in.
Once safe to do so, crews will continue to restore power where they can until they are able to access areas of the network that are flooded or damaged by wind or vegetation debris.
Due to the extreme conditions, the extent of the damage and the continuing weather event it may take several days before power is restored to customers.
Key events
NSW SES has issued nearly 100 warnings, 24 for evacuations
The deputy commissioner of the NSW SES, Deb Platts, says the agency has already issued nearly 100 warnings.
Speaking on the Today Show, she said 36 were watch and acts, with people prepared to evacuate, and there were 24 emergency warnings, which are for people to evacuate now.
They’re extremely widespread from parts of Lismore down to Port Macquarie and everywhere in between …
We need people to keep up to date with the warnings [because] we’ve seen that overnight where we’ve been able to change some evacuation warnings based on the Bureau of Meteorology’s information and forecasts.
Teen charged after dramatic Jetstar confrontation
A teenager who allegedly tried to force his way on to a commercial flight before being dramatically overpowered by passengers will face court charged with a string of offences.
AAP reports that police were called to Avalon airport near Geelong, Victoria, yesterday afternoon following reports a male wielding a firearm had attempted to board the Jetstar flight.
Acting alone, the 17-year-old from Ballarat allegedly climbed through a hole in the airport’s security fence before making his way on foot to the plane, Victoria police superintendent Michael Reid later told reporters. The flight, which was carrying about 150 people, was bound for Sydney.
Police have charged the youth with multiple offences including unlawfully taking control of an aircraft, orchestrating a bomb hoax and possessing a firearm. He has been remanded in custody to appear in a children’s court on a date to be determined.
The teen allegedly tried to climb the front stairs into the plane cabin but was noticed by passengers carrying the shotgun and subsequently overpowered by three civilians, Supt Reid said.
Jetstar said it was working with police and the airport to understand what happened.
Crisafulli says residents from some aged care centres moved to higher ground
David Crisafulli was also on ABC RN this morning, where he said a number of residents in aged care homes were lifted to higher areas ahead of the cyclone.
Where evacuations are needed, they have been done. In some cases, there’s been residents who lifted to higher areas.
We always take the approach, if it is possible to keep people in their location, that is always the first and overwhelming principle – but you never [want to get] in harm’s way either.
He said council’s led the work with air mapping to determine where vulnerable centres were, and also made contingency plans for a number of places.
Queensland premier urges people not to enter surf
David Crisafulli also called out a “handful of idiots” who are heading to closed beaches amid the cyclone.
He said most people were “really doing the right thing”, but those going to the beach were putting themselves – and emergency services – at risk.
We had someone out on a jet ski who had to be rescued. I would rather see that emergency services worker being able to go and knock on someone’s door and talk to them about preparation than having to get an idiot on the sea …
I plead to the people who might think that now is a great time to go out on the surf – it’s not. It’s not just for you I’m concerned but for the innocent person who has to go in after you.
Premier says Queenslanders’ preparation means state can go from response to recover ‘really quickly’
Authorities have repeatedly spoken about TC Alfred in terms of three stages of impact – big surf and erosion, damaging winds and flooding. David Crisafulli said just now:
We’re moving into that part where yes, you will continue to see [those] winds in the course of today, but then there’s that rain, and often in cyclones that rainfall – lots of it in a short window – can be really problematic.
The premier said Queenslanders had overwhelmingly done the correct things to prepare for the cyclone, and this meant it could “go from response to recovery really quickly”.
The difference that makes in getting people back on their feet is just night and day.
Crisafulli says energy crews will work to reconnect power as soon as it’s safe
The Queensland premier, David Crisafulli, has described the impact to the Gold Coast overnight amid TC Alfred. He told ABC News Breakfast:
Over 20,000 homes lost power on the Goldie. We saw trees come down … it’s the rain and the wind which make the trees fall over and then all of a sudden you have issues with power.
As Jenny McAllister also flagged a moment ago, Crisafulli said Energex crews were on standby and had flown from other ends of the state.
They’re waiting. The moment it is safe they will reconnect … It’s also on some of the island communities who have lost power.
BoM says Alfred could cross in daytime tomorrow
Miriam Bradbury, a meteorologist with the Bureau of Meteorology, says TC Alfred is still a category 2 system sitting just under 200km to the east of Brisbane.
Also speaking with the Today Show, she said the coastal crossing was still expected to occur “sometime tomorrow” during the daytime.
It is worth noting that the system is likely to reach the offshore islands before it reaches the coast … But for today, we are already seeing very windy conditions, particularly about the Gold Coast, where we’re having those power outages.
Bradbury said wind gusts up to 100km/h were being felt at the airport – and throughout today, winds would increase.
The rainfall will keep coming down, really building up to that time of crossing tomorrow.
As TC Alfred continues to move around a bit in its approach to the coast, Bradbury said the exact crossing point wasn’t the most important thing to focus on, but “the warnings that are surrounding that crossing point”.
Because we’re not going to see those strong winds and heavy rain just where the system crosses. That’s where we might see the top wind gusts. But those extremely destructive winds and heavy rainfall are going to be across a much, much wider area.
McAllister updates from SES headquarters
The federal emergency management minister, Jenny McAllister, spoke with the Today Show from the State Emergency Service HQ and said “very significant preparations” were under way.
She flagged potential power outages, and said energy workers were lined up and “extra workers in place to support when outages do occur.”
On reports some supermarkets were closing their doors ahead of the cyclone, McAllister noted that “they, of course, have their own families [and] own homes to prepare.”
The advice from the supermarkets, with whom we’ve been working really closely, is that they’ll be assessing on a case by case basis when their stores can be open.
She said safety, and the availability of staff, were the two main factors supermarkets had to consider.
For those workers that are there, I say a big, big thanks. And I really ask the community to look out for them and be kind to them when they’re in there as well.
Send us your photographs and videos of TC Alfred
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Emily Wind
Good morning – Emily Wind here, signing on for blogging duties. I’ll be taking you through all the latest Tropical Cyclone Alfred news today, as well as other notable news from across the country.
If you see anything that needs attention, you can get in touch via email: emily.wind@theguardian.com. Let’s go.
MPs help sandbagging effort as rivalries set aside
Political rivalries have been put aside as Tropical Cyclone Alfred approaches the Queensland coast with a wave of volunteers, including federal MPs, pitching in at Brisbane’s sandbag depots.
Greens volunteer Harrison Rees has been working shoulder to shoulder with a Liberal for the last three days at the former Toowong Bowls Club site, as the activists get on with the job amid a “no shop talk” policy.
Read Andrew Messenger’s full report here:
