Thousands are left in the dark as Storm Alfred brings strong winds to Queensland. Photo credit: The Guardian
(The Post News)- What could have been a normal weekend, hundreds of thousands of people in Australia’s Queensland state were left without power. Cyclone Alfred had arrived. The storm brought in damaging winds and heavy rains and sparked flood warnings.
Based on a statement issued by energy distributor Energex, Queensland’s southeast, about 316,540 people were without power. On the other side, the Gold Coast city was the worst-hit area, with over 112,000 people without power due to the storm system.
Alfred arrived on the Queensland coast on Saturday as a “tropical low” after 16 days as a cyclone, which prompted preparations by millions of residents. Although the state capital, Brisbane, was spared from the brunt of the storm, that was not the case in its southern neighbor, New South Wales.
According to Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, the situation in Queensland and northern New South Wales remains very serious because of the flash flooding and heavy winds. Furthermore, the country’s Bureau of Meteorology warned that heavy rainfall may spark flash flooding development and could affect Brisbane along with the Queensland regional centers of Ipswich, Sunshine Coast, and Gympie.
The bureau said on its website that damaging winds with gusts of around 90 kph (60 mph) were also possible in the country. Dean Narramore, bureau meteorologist, said it is now just a weak low as it continues moving further inland through southeast Queensland, bringing lots of rain.
Brisbane Airport reopened on Sunday but posted on X that “ongoing weather may affect the schedule.” Queensland is yet to decide on Sunday whether around 1,000 state schools, closed due to the bad weather, will reopen on Monday, said state Premier David Crisafulli. Crisafulli said in televised comments from Brisbane that where it’s safe to do so, schools will reopen with the exception of the Gold Coast, where there remains some significant damage. Power loss and issues with transport.
According to officials, it has been reported that one man died in floodwater in northern New South Wales, while two Australian Defense Force vehicles en route to help residents in the city of Lismore were involved in a road collision that injured several officers.
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