Local residents are being urged to heed the warnings of Tropical Cyclone Alfred.
The category two system is less than four-hundred kilometres east of the Gold Coast and Brisbane and is expected to make landfall around Sunrise early Friday morning.
Forecasters are warning of damaging wind gusts, storms, and heavy rainfall.
The system is currently travelling at 11 km/h.
Ipswich, Lockyer Valley and Scenic Rim are expected to see winds pick up to 90 km/h today before the rain sets in tomorrow.
The Bureau of Meteorology has also issued a Severe Weather warning for the local region.
Education Queensland has also closed public schools in the local region.
Police, Education Queensland, Energex, Queensland Rail and SEQwater have released warnings and other information ahead TC Alfred’s arrival.
DARLING DOWNS POLICE
Darling Downs Police have emphasised the need for locals to be prepared for the tropical cyclone.
District Officer Doug McDonald said that the system could have serious impacts on the Darling Downs and in particular the Lockyer Valley.
“It is different to what we usually experience with storms.
“We’re likely to have protracted periods of wind, so it won’t just be wind gusts but really sustained high winds and we know that this could potentially impact our power supply very quickly.
”So I want people to be prepared and understand that they may be without power for some time during this event,” he said.
Also, of course, there is usually significant rainfall and flooding associated with these type of events.” the District Officer said.
Darling Downs District Officer McDonald said he also wanted to highlight to people to reconsider their travel plans from Thursday on.
“Just stay in one place, make sure you’re safe at home and that you have all the preparations in place before this system hits.
Additional police and SES personnel will be deployed to the Lockyer Valley ahead of the cyclone.
IPSWICH POLICE
Ipswich Police want locals to stay out of harms way during the cyclone emergency.
Superintendent District Officer Kylie Rigg said that the system is expected to affect large populations, particularly along the coastline and then west towards the Ipswich area.
“We really need the community to be as prepared as much as we are, we need them to really look out for their own safety, stay off the roads when the weather is bad.
“Look out for fallen power lines, don’t go into water, if it’s flooded, forget it.
Superintendent Kylie Rigg said police are also encouraging people to look out for their neighbours.
“We’ve got a lot of vulnerable people in the community, so go and see if they’re okay, see if they need assistance,” she said.
“We’re preparing our homes and just need to be there for each other,” Superintendent Rigg said.
EDUCATION QUEENSLAND
Public schools in Ipswich and across the south-east will be closed Thursday and Friday due to the cyclone
Education Queensland issued a notice this morning after they determined it was unsafe for students to attend.
A total of 663 schools will closed over the next two days.
To check the status of your school click the following link: https://closures.qld.edu.au/schools.html
ENERGEX
Energex has been preparing for Tropical Cyclone Alfred since last week.
All available crews, vehicles, equipment, and aircraft are being prepared to respond and generators have been deployed at strategic locations to support island communities that are the hardest to reach.
Crews and equipment from regional Queensland are also being pre-positioned to support crews in SEQ, knowing that some may be impacted themselves.
Energex General Manager for Field Delivery Kevin Lavender said it’ss important that any customers and communities that may be impacted by TC Alfred are also prepared for the worst-case scenario.
“People in the impact zone should prepare to lose power.
“Energex will restore power as quickly as it is able to. Once the cyclone has passed and it is safe for out crews to begin patrolling, they will assess the damage and prioritise repairs.
“The time duration will be variable depending upon the cyclone’s intensity, impact location, damage sustained to the network and access for teams to respond,” Mr Lavender said.
If they can see wires down, they should always assume they are live, stay well clear, and call 000.
If they can see damage to poles, wires or other network equipment they should call 13 62 62 to help crews identify the cause of outages.
The Energex website has important information to help keep our communities safe during extreme weather events.
SEQWATER
Seqwater advises that their flood engineers are closely monitoring the weather and dam conditions 24/7 at the Flood Operations Centre which has moved to the Stand Up activation level.
Due to the forecast rainfall associated with Tropical Cyclone Alfred, flood releases are likely in the next 2 days from North Pine Dam.
These releases will consider downstream flows in accordance with the Manual of Operational Procedures for Flood Mitigation for North Pine Dam.
Several ungated dams are spilling excess water. Please stay away from fast flowing or deep water near waterways downstream of the dams.
For more information please visit:
Dam release information http://www.seqwater.com.au
Weather warnings, river heights http://www.bom.gov.au
Road closures and transport http://www.qldtraffic.qld.gov.au
TRANSLINK
Translink advises that all South East Queensland public transport services will be cancelled from tomorrow until further notice.
Bus and train services are currently running until the last service tonight, though it is subject to change if the weather worsens.
People are urged to visit http://translink.com.au, or call 13 12 30 for more information.
For weather updates, road information and details on closures visit your local council’s Disaster Dashboard. See links as follows:
Ipswich City Council https://disaster.ipswich.qld.gov.au/
Lockyer Valley Regional Council https://disaster.lvrc.qld.gov.au/
Somerset Regional Council https://disaster.somerset.qld.gov.au/
Scenic Rim Regional Council https://disasterdashboard.scenicrim.qld.gov.au/
