Evacuation orders issued as storm’s approach slows, Lismore at risk of flooding

The Bureau of Meteorology’s latest update, current at 1pm Friday (NSW time), forecast Alfred to cross the coast between Noosa and Coolangatta, near Moreton Island, on Saturday morning.

The weather bureau’s most recent track map shows the storm hitting the mainland north of Brisbane as a category 1 about 11am on Saturday. Alfred will remain over Brisbane for several hours, the track map shows.

The category 2 storm, which will now reach the coast as a category 1, is still expected to maintain its intensity despite the possibility of it being downgraded.

On Friday afternoon, Alfred was about 155 kilometres east of Brisbane and 120 kilometres east to north-east of the Gold Coast. It is moving at a speed of 7km/h, a marked decrease from earlier in the week when it was tracking towards the coast at 11km/h.

With Alfred’s delayed arrival came warnings from authorities that severe weather conditions would be prolonged – including damaging gale force winds of more than 100km/h and hundreds of millimetres of rainfall daily – the slower the first tropical cyclone to hit NSW since 1990 made its way towards land.

Sustained winds near the storm’s centre were holding steady at 100km/h on Friday afternoon, the weather bureau said, while wind gusts of up to 140km/h had been recorded. Residents in north-east NSW have been warned that they could face winds exceeding 120km/h, while those near the Gold Coast may face destructive wind gusts of 155km/h.

Local Emergency Operations Controller, NSW Police Superintendent Scott Tanner, said conditions will get worse as Cyclone Alfred approaches.

“We don’t need people to get complacent because this weather system seems to have slowed,” he said. “It is still packing a very mighty punch.”

More than 36,000 homes were without power on Friday afternoon. Power may not return for several days, with conditions too dangerous for crews to go out in and conduct repairs.

More than 300 NSW schools, along with TAFEs and childcare centres, have been closed until at least Monday, but they could remain shut for longer if Alfred makes landfall later than expected.

SES Commissioner Mike Wassing said frontline crews responded to 1100 incidents in the 24 hours to Friday morning, including at least five flood rescues, as low-lying areas became “inundated” with water.

“We’re already getting flood rescue calls this early into the incident, and this situation will deteriorate in the next 24 to 48 hours … I can’t be clearer … do not drive through floodwaters,” Wassing said.

“Whilst some of the overnight conditions may not have been as bad as people may have expected … now is not the time to be complacent.”

Bureau of Meteorology senior meteorologist Jane Golding said regions already battered by rain will receive a deluge tonight.

“We will see an escalation or a deterioration overnight, as Cyclone Alfred moves close,” she said.

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Winds greater than 155km/h are expected north of Cape Byron, while waves up to nine metres high have been recorded.

“Those large, powerful waves mean very dangerous conditions along the coast and beaches,” Golding said.

The weather bureau will provide updates hourly now, instead of every three hours.

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