Tropical Cyclone Alfred is travelling towards Australia’s coast with damaging winds and heavy rain, Australian media reported on Wednesday.
Queensland Premier David Crisafulli urged residents to take the destructive weather system “seriously.”
He said “this is a very rare event for South East Queensland, but it is not unprecedented.” Crisafulli also noted that the cyclone’s final trajectory is not yet known.
The cyclone is expected to make landfall between the Sunshine Coast and Brisbane on Thursday night or Friday morning, but has already brought rain and strong wind gusts to the region.
The Bureau of Meteorology (BoM) forecasts maximum wind speeds of up to 130 kilometres per hour, which will continue to increase on Thursday and Friday.
Ferry services have been halted in Brisbane to get vessels out before the storm hits. Huge waves are rising along the coastline, near the coast of North Stradbroke Island at night their height reached 7 metres.
