Ex-Tropical Cyclone Alfred is expected to cross the mainland coast within hours as the “extremely slow moving” system leaves residents anxiously awaiting its arrival.
The category 1 storm crossed Moreton Island about 12am AEST today before weakening and losing its cyclone status about 6am.
The Bureau of Meteorology (BoM), in its latest update at 7.45pm, said the system is slowly approaching the coast at Bribie Island, with a crossing expected in the next hour or two.
The system is currently about 60 kilometres north-northeast of Brisbane and 45 kilometres south-southeast of Maroochydore.
Earlier today, senior meteorologist Miriam Bradbury described the system as “extremely slow moving”.
The cyclonic weather conditions have downed trees and powerlines across the affected regions, leaving more than 295,000 properties in Queensland and more than 31,000 properties in northern New South Wales without power.
Crews are also working to restore power to those homes and businesses in what Queensland Premier David Crisafulli said was the “largest ever loss of power from a natural disaster in Queensland’s history”.
“It’s bigger than Yasi, bigger than Debbie, bigger than Oswald, so it shows you the scale of the destruction because of that populated area,” he said at a press conference this afternoon.
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Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said the news was “tragic”.
“Our thoughts are with his loved ones and the community at this heartbreaking time,” he said in a statement.
Of the 36 personnel injured, eight were in a serious condition and two were trapped within the vehicles.
Albanese and Deputy Prime Minister Richard Marles said their focus is on the welfare of those involved and their families.
“Our ADF heroes were on their way to help Australians in need,” they said in a joint statement.
Authorities have cancelled all emergency warnings in Queensland with only watch and act and advice warnings current for residents between the Sunshine Coast and Gold Coast.
“Now that the system has downgraded, the immediate threat of destructive winds has passed and all alerts relating to taking shelter have been cancelled,” Queensland Police said.
As the affected regions begin to recover, services and shops are beginning to reopen.
Coles and Woolworths announced some locations opened this afternoon and more will be operating tomorrow.
Qantas, Jetstar and Virgin confirmed they will be resuming flights out of Brisbane, Gold Coast, the Sunshine Coast, Ballina and Maroochydore.
Buses will be operating under normal Sunday timetables across Brisbane, Moreton Bay, Ipswich, Toowoomba, Logan and Caboolture tomorrow. Limited ferry services will be running in Moreton Bay.
Train services will not be resuming due to the debris that is blocking the tracks.
Strong gusts and heavy rainfall are now the concern over the coming days with flood warnings in place across south-east Queensland and northern New South Wales.
The bureau expects showers to continue during the weekend as the system crosses the mainland coast this evening.
It is then forecast to move slowly inland, weakening as it goes.
