Cyclone Alfred has whipped up wild surf overnight and eaten away large parts of the shoreline on Queensland’s coast.
Lifeguards closed dozens of beaches from Agnes Water in Gladstone down to Currumbin on the Gold Coast while the category-two cyclone threatens to make landfall.
Alfred is lingering in the Coral Sea and is forecast to edge closer to the Queensland coast over the next few days.
Beaches have faced massive erosion, with the shoreline on some popular beaches including in Bribie Island and the Alexandra Headland on the Sunshine Coast almost cut in half.
The wild winds also caused a strong surf swell and Queenslanders were warned to avoid coastal water.
The Bureau of Meteorology issued an update on Alfred at 5am and warned Monday could bring wild weather.
“Tropical Cyclone Alfred is forecast to move southwards, roughly parallel to the Queensland coast during Sunday and weaken a little further, before moving more to the southeast during Monday,” the BOM said.
“Alfred is then expected to slow down and is likely to turn westward from Tuesday, moving back towards the southern Queensland coast.”
New modelling predicts Alfred could make landfall on the south-east coast on Thursday.
“Tropical Cyclone Alfred may cause gales and damaging wind gusts about K’gari and exposed coastal locations near there today,” the bureau update said.
“Abnormally high tides and damaging surf, continues to impact the Southeast Qld coast this weekend as Tropical Cyclone Alfred moves south.”
It also warned of “significant” coastal erosion due to high tides and damaging surf.
The state’s south-east is forecast to be lashed with 150mm of rain if Alfred makes landfall as expected.
The Gold Coast is also expected to see over 200mm over the next few days.
