A body has been found amid a search for a missing elderly man who was swept away in floodwaters near Dorrigo in New South Wales as Alfred lashed Australia’s eastern coast with heavy rains.
Two Australian states have been swamped by flooding as the storm continued to linger off the coast of Queensland, expected to move inland slowly overnight.
“It is crucially important that the public not dismiss this weather event as something that has already passed,” New South Wales premier Chris Minns said.
“The rivers are full, the rain is continuing and expected to keep falling in the days ahead.”
Alfred was downgraded from a tropical storm to a tropical low as it continues to linger close to Bribie Island, 65km north-northeast of Brisbane and 40km south-southeast of Maroochydore, with a wind speed of 55kmph.
Heavy rainfall has already swelled up rivers and a quarter of a million people are without power in Queensland alone - the largest power outage in a decade.
Thousands of residents have been ordered to evacuate or stay indoors as the storm lashes the region with torrential rain, fierce winds, and towering waves, causing widespread power outages, beach erosion, and airport closures.
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KEY POINTS
- 'This emergency is not over,’ says NSW premier
- Alfred latest: Ex-tropical cyclone stalls near coast for hours
- Cyclone downgraded but warnings of 'life threatening' weather remain
- More than 250,000 homes without power as cyclone nears land
- Police unable to find man missing in floodwaters
Photos of Alfred's damage in Queensland and NSW
09:00
,
Stuti Mishra
Body found amid search for a missing man missing in NSW floodwaters
08:15
,
Stuti Mishra
A body has been found during the search for a 61-year-old man who was swept away in floodwaters near Dorrigo, northern NSW.
The man was lost after his ute was washed off a bridge into fast-moving water on Friday afternoon. He managed to climb into a tree about 30 metres from the riverbank, but emergency services were unable to reach him before he was carried away by the current.
NSW Police confirmed that a body was discovered nearby at 4.30pm on Saturday. While formal identification is yet to take place, authorities believe it is the missing man. A report will be prepared for the coroner.
Why did Alfred weaken? And what comes next?
07:30
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Stuti Mishra
Alfred spent more than 10 days in the Coral Sea, fluctuating in intensity as it struggled to maintain strength. According to Associate professor Iftekhar Ahmed, tropical cyclones feed off warm ocean temperatures, but as they move toward shallower waters, they weaken. “The cloud cover generated by the cyclone can also reduce heat gain in the water, limiting further intensification,” he said.
However, even a weakened system can bring destruction. “The wind power has reduced, and Brisbane and southeast Queensland have escaped the worst-case scenario, but Alfred is still dumping heavy rain. Flooding is the main impact to watch out for,” Dr Ahmed added.
Gold Coast avoids worst-case scenario, but major power outages and flooding remain
06:45
,
Stuti Mishra
Acting Gold Coast mayor Donna Gates says the city has fared better than expected after a tense night of damaging winds and heavy rainfall from Cyclone Alfred.
"We had winds of upwards of 100kmph last night," she said in an update to reporters a while ago, adding that gale-force winds could still persist throughout the day.
More than 134,000 homes remain without power, with the city's main priority now being to restore electricity to hospitals. Gates said Gold Coast University Hospital and John Flynn Private Hospital were the focus of restoration efforts, with John Flynn’s reactivation also being crucial for reopening the airport.
"I understand there's a fair bit of work to do at the airport," she said. "They are not ready to accept passengers."
Meanwhile, major river flooding has been recorded at Currumbin and Tallebudgera Creek. Three evacuation centres remain open, with 122 evacuees seeking refuge overnight. However, two centres lost power, and authorities are working to restore electricity.
To support residents still without power, the council plans to open community centres and libraries as safe hubs where people can charge devices, access medical equipment, and get a hot drink. Ms Gates said updates on which locations would be available will be posted on the City of Gold Coast's disaster dashboard.
Gold Coast to reduce warnings
06:00
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Stuti Mishra
Gold Coast is scaling back warnings, the city's disaster coordinator, Mark Ryan, says.
The warnings levels will be reduced to Yellow level, which means residents can use their own judgement and act with caution.
Earlier, Gold Coast acting mayor Donna Gates asked people to be careful when deciding to step outside.
"Use your common sense but still stay away from that damaged infrastructure and the beaches but monitor the conditions," she said.
"If you need to be on the roads, drive to the conditions but bearing in mind … you are better off the road today if at all possible."
Qantas hoping to restart flights at Brisbane, Gold Coast and Maroochydore from tomorrow
05:15
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Stuti Mishra
Qantas says it is working to restart domestic and international flights at Brisbane, Gold Coast and Maroochydore from 6am tomorrow.
In a statement, the airline said this was “subject to weather conditions and safety assessments.”
We are expecting to progressively rebuild our schedule throughout the day.
Our teams are working to help customers travel in and out of southeast Queensland and northern NSW as safely and as quickly as possible and continue to work closely with the state and federal government and the relevant local airport authorities.
Sunshine Coast ‘breathing sigh of relief’, mayor says
04:29
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Stuti Mishra
The Sunshine Coast mayor said her community was “breathing a sigh of relief” as they fared better than they had feared.
"On the Sunshine Coast, we are really breathing a sigh of relief because we are not seeing right now the same impact as our neighbours to the south," Rosanna Natoli told ABC News. Ms Natoli, however, added that they were still prepared for potential flash flooding.
Speaking to Sky News, she said: "We’ve been waiting and for a few days there it looked like we might actually be where the cyclone crossed, and we might bear the absolute worst, and that hasn’t happened."
She said some areas haven't seen any rainfall but the community is "not out of the woods yet".
"It’s almost as if we’re still waiting for our turn with Alfred."
"It is a strange place to be in between the storm that was [and] what we’ve seen happening down south, [but] it’s no time to be complacent."
Mapped: All flood warnings as rivers swell up
04:03
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Stuti Mishra
Police unable to find man missing in floodwaters
03:30
,
Stuti Mishra
NSW police says they have been unable to find the missing man who was lost in floodwaters near Dorrigo.
"Police have responded to the scene where the male had been washed downstream, there was a short period of time where they were able to engage with him, however his position inside the flooded river prevented any emergency services from getting close to him. And unfortunately he has been washed downstream."
The 61-year-old was a local from the Megan township, the police said, and believed to be passing from one area to another.
"His vehicle has entered a flooded bridge and was washed off. This highlights the public messaging; do not enter flooded roads, bridges or causeways."
'This emergency is not over,’ says NSW premier
03:14
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Stuti Mishra
NSW premier Chris Minns warned 'this emergency is not over' even as Alfred is downgraded.
"The rivers are full, the rain is continuing and expected to keep falling in the days ahead, and wind conditions are very high and extreme, particularly on the coast, particularly in the Byron Shire right up to the Queensland border," the premier said this morning.
"It is crucially important that the public not dismiss this weather event as something that has already passed."
It really doesn’t matter to us whether it has been downgraded from the tropical cyclone to a weather event, or whether it is still a tropical cyclone.
The effect on the northern rivers communities and lower down into the Coffs Harbour area is still the same for thousands and thousands of families.
The next 24 hours will be crucially important as we look to see what the weather event will do to these communities."
Alfred latest: Ex-tropical cyclone stalls near coast for hours
03:00
,
Stuti Mishra
Ex-tropical cyclone Alfred has been lingering off the coast of Queensland for hours as a very slow-moving system.
The storm lies off Bribie Island and is moving slowly north, the Bureau of Meteorology (BoM) said.
It is expected to cross the mainland coast between Maroochydore and Bribie Island this morning.
The storm was downgraded to a Tropical Low, which means it doesn't have cyclone strength anymore but it is still continuing to lash a large region with rainfall.
The tropical low has sustained winds near the centre of 55 kilometres per hour with wind gusts to 85kmph.
It was located within 65km north northeast of Brisbane and 40km south southeast of Maroochydore.
BoM said heavy rainfall is expected to continue over southeast Queensland and northeast New South Wales during the weekend.
Deadly bacterial disease surges in Queensland after severe flooding
02:30
,
Shweta Sharma
Cases of the deadly bacterial infection melioidosis have surged in north Queensland following this year’s devastating floods, with 119 infections reported—more than three times the number recorded in the same period in 2024.
Sixteen people have died so far.
Of the confirmed cases, 106 were detected in Cairns and Townsville.
The disease, caused by the soil-dwelling bacterium Burkholderia pseudomallei, thrives in tropical regions and is typically triggered by environmental disruptions such as flooding. The bacteria can enter the body through cuts, inhalation, or contaminated water consumption.
Associate Professor Jeffrey Warner, a microbiology expert at the Australian Institute of Tropical Health and Medicine, described melioidosis as an “opportunistic infection” that primarily affects those with underlying health conditions, including diabetes and kidney disease.
Heavy alcohol consumption also increases susceptibility.
The disease, often mistaken for severe respiratory infections, can rapidly progress to pneumonia and sepsis. “Even when people present in well-resourced hospitals, the disease can be fatal,” the Guardian quoted Dr Warner as saying.
Thousands in Australia told to evacuate as Tropical Cyclone Alfred nears east coast
01:30
,
Shweta Sharma
Thousands of residents in Australia's east were ordered to evacuate ahead of Tropical Cyclone Alfred's landfall on Saturday as the storm brought heavy rains, huge waves and strong winds that cut off power, eroded beaches and closed airports.
Alfred has been moving slowly toward the coast raising concerns it could result in a longer and prolonged period of heavy rainfall. It is still expected to land as a Category 2 storm north of Brisbane, Australia's third-most populous city, the Bureau of Meteorology said.
"Overnight we saw it packed a punch," Queensland premier David Crisafulli said.
"You will continue to see the winds during the course of today but then there is that rain and often in cyclones, that rainfall, lots of it in a short window can also be really problematic," Mr Crisafulli told ABC News.
Albanese says he won't call election for April as cyclone approaches
00:30
,
Shweta Sharma
Australia's prime minister Anthony Albanese ruled out calling a national election for April on Sunday or Monday, as had been expected, so his government can focus on an approaching cyclone in Queensland state.
A national election must be held by mid-May, and had been expected for April so the government could avoid delivering a national budget forecast to show a deficit"It is our intention to serve full term," Mr Albanese said in a television interview with the ABC News on Friday evening.
The preparation work had been done to deliver a budget on 25 March, he said.
"I have no intention of doing anything that distracts from what we need to do. And what we need to do is to look after each other at this difficult time," Mr Albanese added.
20,000 people under evacuation orders
Friday 7 March 2025 23:41
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Holly Evans
New South Wales SES Commissioner Mike Wassing has said in a press conference that 20,000 people in the state's north-east are under evacuation orders.
They anticipate this number could rise, while there are 131 warnings, including 40 emergency warnings, in the state.
And emergency services have carried out 35 rescues in the past 24 hours, mostly from people driving through floodwaters.
Tropical Cyclone Alfred is slowing down – here’s why that makes it more dangerous
Friday 7 March 2025 23:30
,
Shweta Sharma
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Tropical Cyclone Alfred, which had already been moving at a sluggish pace, has slowed even further now, delaying the landfall and raising serious concerns about prolonged storm impacts for Australia’s eastern coast.
Initially expected to make landfall late Thursday or early Friday, the latest forecast shows Alfred is now moving at a speed of just 7kmph, slowed down by half of its speed on Wednesday.
The storm may not reach the coast until early Saturday now, meaning millions in southeast Queensland and northern New South Wales will endure damaging winds, torrential rain, and dangerous surf conditions for much longer than anticipated.
Cyclone Alfred will have impact on Australian economy
Friday 7 March 2025 23:24
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Holly Evans
The Australian prime minister said there is "no question" Alfred will have an impact on the national economy.
"Businesses are closed, people are unable to go to work," Anthony Albanese said.
"The human impact is one thing, the environmental impact is significant, but the economic impact is as well.
"We will be making that assessment in the coming days."
Australian PM warns 'worse to come' as cyclone approaches mainland
Friday 7 March 2025 22:58
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Holly Evans
Australian prime minister Anthony Albanese, speaking again in the National Situation Room in Canberra, says there is "worse to come".
The approach of Cyclone Alfred has left more than a quarter of a million people without power with residents urged to remain indoors.
"Right now, very clearly, we need to stick together and continue to look after each other," Mr Albanese said.
"The impacts are already being felt, and there is worse to come in the hours ahead.
"We must remain vigilant. This is a very serious weather event."
“Its impact will be serious and will intensify over coming hours and, indeed, over coming days," he said.
"It will still bring strong winds, heavy rain, flooding, and dangerous conditions across south-east Queensland, and north-east New South Wales over this weekend and in the days beyond."
Severe wind and rain could remain a threat for days
Friday 7 March 2025 22:42
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Holly Evans
Residents in Queensland and New South Wales have woken to windy and stormy weather and have been warned to stay indoors for much of Saturday.
Due to the “prolonged crossing” of the cyclone, experts believe it could mean that severe wind and rain remain a threat for an extended period.
Matthew Callopy, a senior forecaster at the Bureau of Meteorology, said the primary concern was now from heavy rainfall.
“Rainfall totals of over 250mm have already been observed around the Scenic Rim and we’ve seen widespread totals of 100mm to 200mm both on the Gold Coast, but also stretching up into the southern parts of Brisbane,” he said.
Gold Coast blackout disrupts birthday plans as cyclone hits
Friday 7 March 2025 22:30
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Shweta Sharma
NSW residents Candice and Matthew Burgess had travelled from Batemans Bay to Currumbin to celebrate a 65th birthday, but their plans were disrupted by power outages on the Gold Coast.
Now without electricity, the couple made a quick trip to gather essential supplies to get through the next few days.
"We have a place up here and we came up for Candi's 65th birthday and that's all been cancelled," Mr Burgess told ABC News.
"We had 30 people coming for lunch today but we're not doing that anymore, so we have about 100 bottles of wine, four bottles of gin and I don't know how many tonics."
21 people evacuated from apartment block as flooding continues
Friday 7 March 2025 22:18
,
Holly Evans
The State Emergency Service in Queensland spokesperson recently there has been no loss of life and no missing persons as a result of flooding that has hit the area.
“Overnight we responded to a large number of jobs with trees down damaging houses, in suburbs such as Elanora, Robena, Mount Cotton, Eden’s Landing. … We’ve seen a lot of vegetation down, power lines down right across the Gold Coast and Brisbane areas.
“We did see an a apartment complex in Labrador on the Gold Coast suffer damage. 21 persons 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.
“There were no significant reports of damage to houses or infrastructure on Stradbroke, Moreton Island or our lower bay islands, as the tropical cyclone passed over that area, although we do probably expect, as people come out to inspect their houses, return to the islands, inspect their businesses - we will see reports of minor damages moving forward.”
Damage seen to buildings and beaches as cyclone approaches
Friday 7 March 2025 21:52
,
Holly Evans
Giving an update, Queensland premier David Crisafulli has said that the cyclone has been downgraded from Category 1 to a tropical low and remains in this state off the coast near Bribie Island.
He said: “We have seen some damage to some buildings. We’ve seen the loss of a roof off one of the apartment buildings, one of the older buildings on the Gold Coast. We’ve had quite a few instances of trees falling on homes, cars and power lines.”
He also added that “extreme erosion” had been seen to the beaches which had also impacted the infrastructure.
Warmer oceans fuel Cyclone Alfred as it tracks further south
Friday 7 March 2025 21:30
,
Rachel Clun
Cyclone Alfred is expected to maintain intensity as it approaches the coast, highlighting how rising ocean temperatures are enabling tropical cyclones to sustain themselves further south than usual.
Warm ocean waters – above 26.5C – and low vertical wind shear are essential for a cyclone to develop, strengthen, and sustain itself. The climate crisis affects both.
Currently, the water off the coast of Sydney has a temperature of 27C, about 1C above average.
Rising global temperatures, driven by burning coal, oil and gas, are increasing sea surface temperatures across the planet, increasing marine heatwaves and fuelling hurricanes and cyclones.
In fact, when Alfred developed in late February, it formed alongside two more systems. While it is not unheard of for two or three tropical cyclones to form out of the same trough, it is rare in the South Pacific.
“Tropical cyclones are clearly linked to global warming. Scientists have been pointing this out for years, and we are now seeing evidence in real time – stronger storms, reaching further, impacting a larger area,” Dr Iftekhar Ahmed, associate professor at the University of Newcastle.
“This is a problem we are seeing worldwide,” said Dr Tom Mortlock, head of Climate Analytics Asia-Pacific. “Right now, ocean temperatures are warm enough to sustain tropical cyclones as far south as Sydney, which is highly unusual.”
Over 250,000 people without power
Friday 7 March 2025 21:28
,
Holly Evans
Hundreds of thousands of people are without power due to Cyclone Alfred, with almost 240,000 in Queensland and 38,000 in New South Wales.
Energex said that 239,564 customers had been affected by power outages. They warned customers to be prepared for those outages to last a while:
A spokesperson said: “We are experiencing outages on the electricity network from the impact of the cyclone. Gale force winds and floods can cause extensive damage, so be prepared for prolonged power outages.
“Once the cyclone has passed and our crews can safely assess the network damage, we will provide estimated restoration timeframes for customers.”
Cyclone Alfred downgraded to a tropical low
Friday 7 March 2025 21:03
,
Holly Evans
Cyclone Alfred has now been downgraded to a “tropical low”, the bureau of meteorology has said.
It has sustained winds near the centre of 55 kilometres per hour with wind gusts to 85 kilometres per hour.
In a statement, they said: “Ex-Tropical Cyclone Alfred lies off Bribie Island and is moving slowly north. Gales are no longer occurring over coastal or island locations. It is expected to move towards and cross the mainland coast this morning, with winds weakening further as it moves inland.”
Nearly 4.5 million in the path of cyclone Alfred
Friday 7 March 2025 20:31
,
Shweta Sharma
Authorities said nearly 4.5 million people could be in the path of Alfred as northern New South Wales and southeast Queensland reeled under a spell of heavy rains and strong winds.
Authorities warned the tropical cyclone could bring up to 800mm rainfall in the two regions with landfall on Saturday morning.
Australia's east coast battered by wind and rain
Friday 7 March 2025 20:00
,
Holly Evans
Part of Australia's east coast was lashed by wind and rain early Saturday ahead of its first tropical cyclone in 51 years as residents were ordered to evacuate flood-prone homes and a quarter of a million homes and businesses lost power.
Tropical Cyclone Alfred was forecast to cross the coast of Queensland state north of downtown Brisbane, Australia's third-most populous city early Saturday.
Bureau of Meteorology manager Matt Collopy said."It's important to note that the exact track is still uncertain," Collopy told reporters in Brisbane.
Alfred was moving west with sustained winds near the center of 95 kph (59 mph) and gusting to 130 kph (81 mph). But the storm was expected to weaken as it approached Brisbane, Collopy said."This will mean that destructive winds are unlikely for Brisbane itself, but damaging wind gusts to 120 kph (75 mph) are expected and they will develop quickly as the system approaches," Collopy said.
Man missing in NSW after being swept into floodwaters
Friday 7 March 2025 19:30
,
Shweta Sharma
A search has been launched after a man was swept into gushing floodwaters in northern New South Wales today, despite his desperate attempt to secure himself to a tree.
Emergency services responded to calls of a man being washed off a bridge and into the floodwaters at 2.20pm local time.
The man was driving across Wild Cattle Creek Bridge off Old Coramba Rd, Megan, a NSW Police media release said, when he got hit by floodwaters.
The man exited the car and tried to cling to a tree branch, 30m from the river bank, and officers were communicating with him when he lost his grip.
At 3pm he was seen going into the fast running water and has not been seen since.
Police are conducting ground searches as they await aerial assistance.
When and where is Alfred expected to make landfall?
Friday 7 March 2025 19:18
,
Holly Evans
According to Queensland’s Bureau of Meteorology, the cyclone is forecast to hit land on Saturday morning just north of Brisbane about 9am (11pm GMT on Friday) .
The Category 2 storm is current around 80km away from Brisbane and is due to hit wind speeds of around 80mph.
Its progress has slowed in recent days due to the warm waters off Queensland stalling the speed, but has unfortunately given the storm time to intensify.
Beaches on Gold Coast eroded away in rare cyclone
Friday 7 March 2025 18:49
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Holly Evans
Cyclones are common in Queensland's tropical north but are rare in the state's temperate and densely populated south-east corner that borders New South Wales state.
The Sunshine Coast region north of Brisbane and the city of Gold Coast to the south are tourist destinations renowned for their extensive and picturesque white sandy beaches.
But many of those beaches have eroded away over days by large waves and unusually high tides generated by Alfred.
Alfred is expected to become the first cyclone to cross the coast in the Brisbane region since Cyclone Zoe hit Gold Coast in 1974 and brought widespread flooding.
The cyclone has been tracking south from the tropics for weeks.
