Anxious wait, no respite as cyclone stalls off coast

An anxious wait for millions of people will continue after an unpredictable cyclone’s journey to the Australian coast stalled.

Tropical Cyclone Alfred’s slowdown will provide no respite, with the delay ensuring heavy rain and massive surf will hit southeast Queensland and northern NSW for longer.

NSW Premier Chris Minns said Alfred was like an “unwanted house guest” for arriving late and then hanging around for longer, with 24 communities in the state’s north preparing to evacuate.

Schools, offices, public transport and the Gold Coast airport were closed as Queensland’s southeast bunkered down, expecting heavy rain and gale force winds as Alfred approached.

However many in Brisbane woke up on Thursday to blue skies after the category two system stalled.

The latest forecast predicts Alfred will hit between the Sunshine Coast and Gold Coast late Friday or early Saturday, almost 24 hours later than initially predicted.

It will be the first cyclone to impact the southeast coast since 1974.

“That’s still going to bring widespread impacts that we have been talking about all week,” the Bureau of Meteorology’s Dean Narramore said.

Destructive winds are set to impact bayside and coastal communities when Alfred finally arrives, with heavy rainfall leading to flooding in Queensland’s southeast and northern NSW.

Alfred will also trigger significant coastal erosion, Mr Narramore warned.

Wild weather has already hit the coast from Coolangatta down to Ballina in NSW.

About 20,000 properties in the Brisbane area alone are in danger of flooding.

The delay gifted many more time to prepare, with sandbagging sites reopening across Brisbane and extra Sunshine Coast evacuation centres set up.

People have already arrived at the Nambour Showgrounds site, bringing with them their extended family.

“There are several horses stabled at Nambour already, as well as two caravans,” Sunshine Coast Mayor Rosanna Natoli said.

“That energy is going to continue to impact all of our beaches in northeast NSW and far southeast Queensland leading to major coastal erosion,” Mr Narramore said.

Alfred’s delay also guarantees a longer period of heavy rainfall particularly in northeast NSW.

Major flooding is likely for many northeast NSW rivers and possibly in parts of Queensland’s southeast, Mr Narramore said.

Heavy falls have already been recorded south of Brisbane, NSW’s Northern Tablelands and near the Queensland border.

NSW’s Northern Rivers is expected to be one of the hardest hit, with about 2000 SES volunteers bolstering the region.

Coles and Woolworths stores in areas set to be impacted in southeast Queensland and northern NSW began closing on Thursday.

Commercial airlines will suspend services from Brisbane on Thursday afternoon while Carnival Luminosa’s three-day cruise has been called off and Greyhound bus services have been cancelled.

The federal government has activated Australian Defence Force assistance and local council disaster grants.

In the meantime, sea captain Brad Delange will bunker down after tapping into nautical knowledge that has taken him from the high seas to a reality TV show Below Deck stint to secure their Cleveland home, southeast of Brisbane.

“The preparations are to keep the wife happy,” he told AAP.