Officials warn residents to stay vigilant as ex-cyclone Alfred leaves more than 330,000 homes and businesses without power.
Tropical Cyclone Alfred has weakened into a tropical low weather system but officials warned that the storm can still bring severe winds and flooding to the eastern coast of Australia.
The cyclone, which weakened early on Saturday, crossed the islands off the coast of Queensland state overnight and is now heading towards the mainland, the Bureau of Meteorology said.
“Heavy-to-locally intense rainfall leading to flash and riverine flooding now becomes the major concern as the ex-Tropical Cyclone Alfred moves inland,” Bureau of Meteorology manager Matt Collopy said.
Alfred has blacked out more than a quarter of a million homes and businesses while prompting evacuation orders for thousands of people. No deaths have been reported so far but authorities have urged residents to stay indoors.
“The impacts are already being felt, and there is worse to come in the hours ahead,” Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said in a news conference from the National Situation Room in Canberra.
It had been expected to become the first cyclone to cross the east Australian coast near the Queensland state capital of Brisbane since 1974.
Cyclones are common in Queensland’s tropical north but rare in the state’s temperate and densely populated southeast corner that borders New South Wales state.
Thousands without power
Brisbane Airport remains shut and the city has suspended public transport. More than 1,000 schools in southeast Queensland and 280 in northern New South Wales (NSW) have been closed.
More than 330,000 homes and businesses lost power on both sides of the border between NSW and Queensland, a large proportion of them in Gold Coast, which recorded the strongest gusts of 107km/h (66mph) on Friday night.
Of those, 291,000 premises were in Queensland, including 131,000 at Gold Coast, officials said. Another 45,000 were without power in New South Wales.
Power lines, homes and cars were damaged by falling trees across the region over Friday night.
One man was still missing after his four-wheel drive vehicle was swept off a bridge into a rain-swollen river the previous day in northern New South Wales.
“While it has been downgraded, very serious risks remain so it is important that people do not take this downgrading as a reason for complacency,” PM Albanese said.