Ex-Cyclone Alfred live updates: cyclone downgraded to tropical low; BoM path tracking map for Brisbane, Queensland and NSW; hundreds of thousands without power; weather forecast and flooding | Tropical Cyclone Alfred

Gates said people should monitor conditions and stay off roads today, if possible

Taking questions, Donna Gates said the priority right now is for people to continue monitoring conditions.

Simply use your common sense, but still stay away from that damaged infrastructure and the beaches.

She urged people to drive to the conditions but said “you are better off the road today if at all possible.”

No rescues in past 24 hours in Gold Coast, 150 intersection signals down

Donna Gates said there had been no local rescues in the past 24 hours – meaning people were sheltering at home and were safe, and “that is the best news we could possibly have.”

But she warned this is “not over yet” and there was the “potential for more rain”.

She said 150 signals were out at intersections currently, and Energex was working to address this.

They are prioritising the repairs and they are sending people out to man those intersections wherever possible.

Four taken to hospital with carbon monoxide poisoning

Four people were also taken to hospital with carbon monoxide poisoning, Donna Gates said:

It seems they were using a personal generator inside and so my message to everyone is, if you have a generator, it needs to be appropriately ventilated and preferably outside. The people are fine, by the way, so that was good news.

Two Gold Coast evacuation centres lost power overnight

Donna Gates said there were 122 evacuees last night, and two evacuation centres lost power.

Unfortunately, two of our centres lost power but work is being done in that space. We will be keeping the three open and looking at anything else that might become necessary.

She said there was “substantial damage” to residential properties and at Labrador, 25 people were evacuated safely.

Gold Coast acting mayor provides update

Sunshine Coast mayor says region is ‘not out of the woods yet’ after escaping full brunt of cyclone

The mayor of the Sunshine Coast, Rosanna Natoli, has described local conditions as “eerie”.

Speaking to Sky News just earlier, she said:

We’ve been waiting and for a few days there it looked like we might actually be where the cyclone crossed, and we might bear the absolute worst, and that hasn’t happened.

So it’s eerie now that in some parts of the Sunshine Coast we’ve had no rain. It is a little bit windy, but nothing more than a normal storm.

But the mayor said the “rain is coming” and could be locally intense in some areas, with up to 200mm that could lead to flash flooding. Damaging waves were also forecast for tonight, she said.

So we are not out of the woods yet. It’s almost as if we’re still waiting for our turn with Alfred.

About 300 people on the Sunshine Coast were without power, she said, but Energex is on standby if that changes this evening as stronger winds move through.

It is a strange place to be in between the storm that was [and] what we’ve seen happening down south, [but] it’s no time to be complacent.

Gold Coast mayor reportedly back in Australia

Search continues for man missing in NSW flood waters

NSW SES shares video of rescue after car is driven into flood waters

The NSW SES has shared this frightening video of a flood rescue in the Tweed region, where a car became submerged after driving through flood waters.

The SES had conducted 30 flood rescues in the past 24 hours, it said, “mostly for people driving into flood water”.

Floodwaters can be deep, fast, and unpredictable. Never drive through floodwater.

Alfred has ‘essentially stalled for the moment’ off Bribie Island, BoM says

Miriam Bradbury from the Bureau of Meteorology says there has been “very little change” in the position of ex-Tropical Cyclone Alfred throughout the day.

Providing an update on ABC TV just a few minutes ago, she said the system was still lingering off Bribie Island, “essentially stalled for the moment”.

She said there were rainfall totals of more than 150mm overnight in some areas, with some locations pushing up to 250mm.

The wet conditions were expected to develop through today, pushing into tomorrow – with the risk of flash flooding continuing.

Bradbury said:

[The system] is bringing in a lot of moisture and we expect to see some of those heavy falls still, particularly with any thunderstorms developing.

We have a severe weather warning covering quite a large area of south-east Queensland and northern NSW [with the] heavy falls, flash flooding and the ongoing riverine flooding as well.

Bradbury reiterated that while the emergency warnings in Queensland had all been downgraded to “watch and act”, the “risk is not over yet”, particularly for northern NSW.

Gold Coast mayor says foundations of beach escarpments may be unstable

Donna Gates said the damage to the Gold Coast had been “extreme” amid ex-TC Alfred, and people should be cautious around beach escarpments.

We have a four- to six-metre escarpment right along the beachfront from Southport all the way down to Nobby beach … a lot of the beachside infrastructure has been compromised.

We’ve been saying to people, don’t stand on a platform that looks OK, because the foundations may not be OK. And we’ve had sand falling away in huge clumps, so people who’ve been standing on the edge have been compromised.

She said there were no rescues overnight, which was a “miracle”.

It’s still raining intermittently, it’s still gusting intermittently, and the trees down are quite unbelievable. So please, I hope people will listen and take care of themselves.

Gold Coast acting mayor urges people to stay off roads because ‘this isn’t over yet’

Earlier this afternoon, the Gold Coast’s acting mayor, Donna Gates, urged the community to stay at home because “it’s not over yet”.

Speaking to Sky News, she said it was “always going to be the case” that if the cyclone passed north of Brisbane, “we’d be a direct hit in terms of the southern impact.”

We are expecting today wind gusts up to 120km/h. We’re also expecting to receive, over a six-hour time frame, up to 255mm of rain.

So it’s not over yet. People need to be mindful of the danger that still exists, and stay off the roads as much as possible.

In terms of the power outages, she said crews were focused on the Gold Coast university hospital and John Flynn hospital, which both lost power overnight.

All emergency warnings in Queensland at ‘watch and act’ level

Earlier this afternoon, all the emergency warnings in Queensland were downgraded to “watch and act” level.

The following communities were being urged to monitor conditions:

• Ipswich

• Brisbane

• Scenic Rim

• Gold Coast

• Logan City

• Sunshine Coast

• Tallebudgera

• Currumbin

The Somerset and Southern Downs regions were being urged to prepare now.

You can read the full details of the active emergency warnings online.

Full power restoration could take ‘longer than a week’, Energex says

Sheldon outlines immediate recovery priorities, including mental health support

Asked what the immediate priorities would be in terms of recovery efforts, Tony Sheldon said it would be a team effort between all levels of government.

He noted the disaster funding allocated for both Queensland and NSW, and said this would make sure local councils were able to respond quickly to cleanups.

The state government will make applications after local community input and the federal government, the Albanese government, will respond to those requests.

Sheldon said early relief was available for NSW, as the government was mindful of the ongoing impacts of the 2022 flooding.

The senator said he had visited a number of evacuation centres, and would attend another after the interview, to check on the mental health support being provided to those impacted.

It is incredibly important because it is a triggering event for many people.

Special envoy for disaster recovery says ‘great deal of challenges’ ahead with ex-TC Alfred

The NSW Labor senator Tony Sheldon, who is the special envoy for disaster recovery, says the worst of ex-Tropical Cyclone Alfred is yet to come.

Providing an update to ABC TV just now, Sheldon said he doesn’t want communities to “feel as if it didn’t happen yesterday, or the day before, [and] that things are going OK”.

We still have a great deal of challenges. Within the next 36 hours, there is going to be further rain dumped from ex-Tropical Cyclone Alfred and I am very, very mindful of the number of impacts happening right now.