Australia

Ex-Cyclone Alfred Wreaks Havoc Across Eastern Australia

MAR 10 2025·Updated MAR 11 2025

Story

Above: A boy walks past an uprooted tree in front of the Miami Beach Surf Lifesaving Club in the aftermath of Cyclone Alfred on the Gold Coast on March 8, 2025. Image credit: David Gray/Contributor/AFP via Getty Images

The Facts

Ex-Tropical Cyclone Alfred made landfall near Brisbane on Saturday evening, causing widespread flooding and power outages and affecting more than 300K homes across south-east Queensland and northern New South Wales on Sunday.
Al Jazeera
BBC News
Daily Mail
Brisbane experienced its wettest day in half a century, with 275.2mm of rainfall in 24 hours to Monday morning, while the Gold Coast recorded its highest wave in 38 years at 12.3 meters, causing severe beach erosion with escarpments up to 6 meters high.
ABC
9
The Queensland State Emergency Service received a record-breaking 3,676 calls for assistance in 24 hours, while multiple emergency alerts remain active across southeast Queensland as communities brace for significant flooding.
Sky News
SBS News
The Royal Caribbean's Quantum of the Seas cruise ship was forced to extend its journey by three days, returning to Noumea in New Caledonia instead of docking in Brisbane as scheduled. The company has offered compensation for flight changes.
New York Post
Stuff
Over a dozen military personnel were injured when two 40 trucks carrying 32 soldiers rolled over near Lismore while conducting route clearance work during the storm response operations. At least 12 soldiers remain in hospital, including two in a serious condition.
Daily Mail
9
The cyclone marked the furthest south a cyclone has ventured since 1974. The Australian government has activated financial support for affected workers, offering up to 13 weeks of assistance equivalent and an additional one-time disaster payment of A$1K.
X
Reuters

Sources Split

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The Spin

Narrative A

The unprecedented severity of Cyclone Alfred highlights the need for enhanced disaster preparedness and infrastructure resilience. With the power outages being the state's largest-ever loss from a natural hazard, it's essential to create resilient services to dwarf the impact of future extreme weather patterns.

The Conversation

Narrative B

The economic impact of Cyclone Alfred remains manageable, with insurance claims currently at 3K — significantly lower than previous disasters such as Cyclone Jasper in 2023, which resulted in A$409M in claims. This suggests that effective early warning systems and emergency responses helped minimize damage.

Reuters

Narrative C

Cyclone Alfred is a wake-up call. Climate change has intensified the storm's destructive power through warmer ocean temperatures, higher sea levels, and extreme rainfall patterns. It's crucial to see Cyclone Alfred as a sign of things to come, reduce emissions, and better prepare communities for future disasters.

Climate Council

Narrative D

As Cyclone Alfred could potentially complicate the election timeline, its impact had been overstated for political purposes, as evidenced by its downgrade to a storm before landfall. This shows that climate catastrophists are once again using climate "emergencies" to influence voters and businesses.

Daily Mail