Australia’s prime minister has told residents along the country’s east coast to “hope for the best, but prepare for the worst” as a tropical cyclone nears landfall, bringing violent winds that have prompted mass evacuation orders and cut off electricity to 80,000 homes.
Tropical Cyclone Alfred was 125km (78 miles) east of Brisbane city on Friday afternoon, crawling towards the densely populated coastline at “walking speed” and is expected to make landfall early on Saturday, government forecasts said.
“When nature does its worst, Australians are at our best. We rally. We lift each other up. We look out for our neighbours,” Prime Minister Anthony Albanese told reporters.
Bureau of Meteorology manager Matt Collopy said the storm was expected to weaken as it approached Brisbane.
“This will mean that destructive winds are unlikely for Brisbane itself, but damaging wind gusts up to 120km/h (75mph) are expected and they will develop quickly as the system approaches,” he said.
Al Jazeera’s Sarah Clarke, reporting from Brisbane, said the “slow-moving” storm made it possible for big and densely populated areas of Australia to prepare and evacuate.
She said while Brisbane is still calm, the situation on the eastern coast of the country is “deteriorating” as the storm approaches, with huge waves reported in the Gold Coast.
In northern New South Wales, the State Emergency Service personnel were assisting police in the search for a missing man, after the truck he was driving was washed off a bridge, according to the Sydney Morning Herald.
The man initially managed to climb a tree near the riverbank but was later spotted being swept away and gone underwater.
