Australia news live: Tropical Cyclone Alfred updates – gale force winds hit Byron Bay as NSW closes 122 schools and opens evacuation centres

Minns says 122 schools closed in Northern Rivers

Chris Minns said the SES would speak to vulnerable communities about whether they need to be evacuated tomorrow.

By Thursday evening it may be too late. We ask people to think about relocating on Thursday if they believe they are in a vulnerable situation.

He said the NSW government was setting up multiple evacuation centres, available from 4pm this afternoon.

Minns said 122 schools in the Northern Rivers have been closed for today and tomorrow, “from the Clarence Valley up to the Queensland border and west out to Cuyahoga”.

That decision has been made to ensure that if there are parents or individuals involved with emergency service preparation that they are able to focus on that situation.

Key events

All flights in and out of Ballina cancelled today

The MP for Lismore, Janelle Saffin, says airlines have cancelled all flights to and from Ballina today due to winds from the cyclone.

In a post to Facebook, she said customers had been notified and could change their flight for free “up to 7 days before and up to 14 days after their original travel date”.

According to the Ballina-Byron airport website, the following flights have been cancelled:

QF2063 to Sydney
JQ459 to Sydney
VA1140 to Sydney
JQ461 to Sydney
JQ465 to Melbourne
QF2062 from Sydney
JQ458 from Sydney
VA1139 from Sydney
JQ460 from Sydney

Gale force winds over 100km/h start hitting Byron coast

The latest Tropical Cyclone Alfred track map shows gale force winds are hitting the coast at Byron Bay.

The last weather observations at Cape Byron show that wind gusts of more than 100km/h are already being felt in the region, with a gust of 106km/h recorded at 9am.

A livestream on Swellnet shows that winds are occurring at an intense speed.

The cyclone is currently located 425km east of Brisbane and 390km east of the Gold Coast, according to the latest Bureau of Meteorology update.

The system is moving 11km/h as a category 2 system.

Damaging wind gusts up to 120km/h are forecast to develop along the south-east Queensland and north-eastern NSW coast – between Double Island Point and Grafton – from later today and persist into tomorrow.

Alfred rainfall made heavier ‘thanks to climate pollution’ – expert

Scientists have warned that a warmer world means fewer, but more destructive, cyclones.

In the 2024 State of the Climate report, the Bureau of Meteorology and CSIRO warn:

Fewer tropical cyclones, but with higher intensity on average, and greater impacts when they occur through higher rain rates and higher sea level.

In a statement from the Climate Council, Prof David Karoly said the extreme rainfall associated with Tropical Cyclone Alfred is “made heavier by the higher moisture content in the atmosphere, due to higher atmospheric and sea surface temperatures, thanks to climate pollution”.

The coastal storm surges, erosion and coastal flooding will be much worse due to the sea level rise in the region, which is more than 20cm since 1900 due to climate pollution.

He said Alfred developed in the wake of record-breaking hot annual sea surface temperatures for the Australian region last year, about 0.89C above the 1961–1990 average.

NSW evacuation centres to open this afternoon

Chris Minns has read out the names of the evacuation centres that will be open from 4pm this afternoon. Here is the full list, as per the SES:

Agencies ‘planning for the worst’ in terms of damage to homes – Minns

Asked how many homes are expected to be affected, Chris Minns said it “fluctuates” and agencies “plan for the worst”.

As far as the actual number of houses, well, many more than we would hope to see, obviously. Our planning is for something a kin to the 2022 natural disaster in Lismore, but I hope it is less than that.

As I said, right through the entire operation since Alfred emerged in the Coral Sea, we have been planning for the worst and hoping for the best.

Minns cautions against panic buying

The NSW premier, Chris Minns, is now taking questions. On the potential for panic buying, he said “good logistical lines with major supermarkets” were in place.

I assure the community that we have good contingency plans in place and, regrettably, this is not the first natural disaster event that the Northern Rivers has had. As a result, both the supermarket chains, the retailers and the NSW government have got good logistical lines into those communities.

I hope people show common sense particularly for things that everybody needs and, remember, if you take more than you need in the next few days, it may be the case that you take it from a neighbour or someone else on the street.

Empty shelves at a Woolworths on Bribie Island near Brisbane yesterday. Photograph: Jono Searle/EPA

‘Speedy recovery essential for communities’ – Reconstruction Authority

Mal Lanyon, the CEO of the NSW Reconstruction Authority, said the agency has learned from the 2022 floods in Lismore that “speedy recovery is essential for communities”.

To that end, we are preplanning for recovery … even before we go in to the response phase.

He said the agency would work with local councils to “ensure that where essential public assets such as roads need to be fixed quickly, we will work with them to get that done”.

By Thursday night, it will be too late to leave, SES commissioner warns

The SES commissioner, Mike Wassing, said the state was dealing with “three natural disaster events in one”, not seen since Tropical Cyclone Nancy in 1990.

If you live directly on the coast and you know where your high tide is, you will see water potentially half a metre above that high tide mark. Additionally, you will potentially and very likely have wind impacting your location in excess of 100km/h. If you do not feel safe in that location now is the time to relocate.

Wassing said wind of this strength would “likely bring down power lines, trees, [cause] damage and [restrict] access”.

He said it was difficult to predict rainfall but the SES is planning for “significant rainfall that will see significant inundation, isolation and potential need for evacuation.”

I want people to act now, relocate now before those circumstances are occurring. This is not just a rain event, this is a wind event, multiple wind events and then potential flash flood and flooding event.

Now is the time to act – by Thursday afternoon and into Thursday evening it is too late. By that stage we need people to bunker down and ride out the significant wind as the cyclone crosses and then we will deal with what comes on Friday.

Emergency minister urges people to take cyclone danger seriously

The NSW emergency services minister, Jihad Dib, is urging communities to take the danger of this weather system seriously.

As a government, we are doing as much in terms of preparation as we possibly can. This is the moment before the storm and we are not trying to create a sense of panic, [but] we want to cover all bases as much as we possibly can.

He urged people to download the Hazards Near Me app if they haven’t already done so.

As flagged earlier, he said a number of evacuation centres would be open from 4pm today.

What we want to do is ensure the people of NSW, particularly of the Northern Rivers who we know were still suffering the trauma of the major incident from three years ago, that we are doing everything possible … across all of our government agencies and across our non-government partners and across every possible area we can to try to make sure we are as best prepared as possible to be able to deal with this. We hope for the best, plan for the worst.

Bribie Island resident Jon Wadey sandbags his house yesterday in preparation for Alfred’s landfall. Photograph: Jono Searle/EPA

Alfred landfall expected early on Friday morning

Jane Golding from the Bureau of Meteorology has been providing an update on Tropical Cyclone Alfred. She said:

It is currently located 430km east of the Gold Coast as a category 2 system
It is moving west towards NSW and the southern Queensland coast
Landfall is expected early on Friday morning as a category 2 system between the Sunshine Coast and the Gold Coast
Conditions in NSW will deteriorate over the next two or three days
Winds will increase along the Northern Rivers and mid north coast today
Large waves will also be associated with the weather system, enough to cause coastal erosion
Heavy rainfall is also forecast, with the “potential to cause extensive flooding”
The bureau expects moderate to major flooding from the Queensland border down to the Manning river, not including the Manning
The rain and wind is forecast to peak on Thursday night and Friday morning

NSW and Queensland to cooperate over next 48 hours

Chris Minns said he spoke with Queensland counterparts this morning, and the state was on “high alert”.

We have pledged to make sure that cooperation between the states takes place over the next 48 hours and we wish everyone in Queensland the best during a difficult period … We need to bunker down over the next 48 hours and get through what may be a very difficult time.

Minns says 122 schools closed in Northern Rivers

Chris Minns said the SES would speak to vulnerable communities about whether they need to be evacuated tomorrow.

By Thursday evening it may be too late. We ask people to think about relocating on Thursday if they believe they are in a vulnerable situation.

He said the NSW government was setting up multiple evacuation centres, available from 4pm this afternoon.

Minns said 122 schools in the Northern Rivers have been closed for today and tomorrow, “from the Clarence Valley up to the Queensland border and west out to Cuyahoga”.

That decision has been made to ensure that if there are parents or individuals involved with emergency service preparation that they are able to focus on that situation.

NSW Northern Rivers ‘must prepare for the worst’ – Minns

The NSW premier, Chris Minns, is speaking to reporters in Sydney about Tropical Cyclone Alfred.

He said agencies have been “working hard to preposition … emergency service workers on the ground ready to go”.

For the Northern Rivers in particular, Minns said “we hope for the best but we must prepare for the worst”.

The concern from the SES and emergency services is that high tide is expected to be at 1am, an hour before … the weather event is due to make landfall. If high tide occurs at the same moment, then people who live on the coast or on beaches or close to rivers or riverine areas can expect the high tide to be up to half a metre higher than the high tide they would ordinarily expect.

NSW premier Chris Minns provides an update to the media on Tropical Cyclone Alfred. Photograph: Bianca de Marchi/AAP

Dozens of school closed in NSW and Queensland due to cyclone

Dozens of schools have been closed today in NSW today ahead of Tropical Cyclone Alfred.

As of half an hour ago, seven public schools were non-operational, including:

Casino
Chatsworth Island
Drake
Evans River
Gulmarrad
Gwabegar
Leeville

Dozens of other schools have been closed in NSW today. You can read the full list of NSW school closures due to cyclone Alfred here.

Meanwhile in Queensland, two state schools have been closed and two independent schools:

Paluma Environmental Education Centre
Toobanna State School
Compass Independent School (Kelvin Grove)
Mungalla Silver Lining School (Mutarnee)

You can read the full list of Queensland school closures due to cyclone Alfred here.

Alfred’s effects already being felt in northern NSW, SES says

The NSW SES says it is preparing for the first cyclone warning issued in the state since 1990.

In a post to X, it said there were currently 33 advice warnings and the service had received more than 2,500 calls for assistance, with the effects of the storm already being felt across northern NSW.

Here are the latest track maps and satellite imagery from the Bureau of Meteorology:

RBA does not expect ‘sequence’ of rate cuts

Jonathan Barrett

The Reserve Bank’s deputy governor, Andrew Hauser, has told a business forum the central bank does not share the market’s confidence that there will be a “sequence” of further interest rate cuts.

The comments follow the release of the minutes of the RBA’s February board meeting, where it reduced the cash rate for the first time since early in the pandemic.

Hauser told the AFR summit in Sydney this morning that the RBA sets policy to return inflation to the midpoint of the target inflation range.

The target range is 2% to 3%, with the midpoint at 2.5%. Hauser told the forum:

The rate cut in February reduces the risks of inflation undershooting that midpoint, but the board does not currently share the market’s confidence that a sequence of further cuts will be required.

Interest rates will go where they need to go to maximise the chances of keeping inflation sustainably in the target band while helping to sustain full employment.

Reserve Bank deputy governor Andrew Hauser. Photograph: Lukas Coch/AAP

Economists at some of the major banks are forecasting up to another three-quarter-point rate cuts this year.

While the headline inflation rate is at the midpoint, the RBA’s preferred gauge that strips out government subsidies and volatile prices is at 3.2%.

‘I wouldn’t use that language’: Marles condemns WA premier calling JD Vance a ‘knob’

Richard Marles was also asked to weigh in after the WA premier, Roger Cook, called the US vice-president, JD Vance, a “knob”.

Marles said he “wouldn’t use that language” and this “wasn’t a moment of the greatest discipline” from Cook.

The deputy PM said Australia was “working very closely in building our relationship with the new administration in Washington”.

That’s obviously not language I would use in terms of describing the American vice-president and to be frank, the relationship between our government and the new administration in America is going well and they have treated us with enormous respect … There is a real courtesy and respect which is being afforded to us by the Trump administration and we’re grateful for that.

Marles reiterates ADF’s readiness to respond to cyclone

The defence minister, Richard Marles, has been making the rounds this morning and also spoke on ABC News Breakfast about the cyclone response.

Like earlier, he said the ADF stands ready to be deployed if a request is made.

I would expect that in terms of knocking on doors, providing airlifts in the event of flooding, that all of these may come into play, and we are ready to do everything that is required.

He also reiterated earlier comments that Australia is “open to whatever requests come in” from Ukraine regarding peacekeeping, and that “we want to provide what assistance we can”.