Latest update for Cyclone Alfred: “Not over in emergencies”, warning NSW Premier amid flooding and imminent landing

NSW police say they were unable to find the missing man lost in the flood near Dorigo.

“Police had a short time when the man was able to respond to and interact with him when he was washed downstream, but his position in the flooded Kawauchi prevented emergency services from approaching him.

The 61-year-old is a local in the town of Megan, police said, and it was believed to have passed from one area to another.

“His vehicle has entered an inundated bridge and washed away. This underscores the public message: don’t enter flooded roads, bridges, or roots.”

NSW Prime Minister Chris Mins warned that even if Alfred was downgraded, “this emergency is not over.”

“The river is full, the rain continues and it is expected to continue falling in the coming days, with wind conditions being extremely high and extreme, especially at Byronshire, up to the Queensland border,” the prime minister said this morning.

“It’s very important not to dismiss this weather event as something that has already passed.”

It really doesn’t matter whether it’s being downgraded from a tropical cyclone to a weather event or a tropical cyclone.

The impact on the Northern Rivers community and the decline to the Coffs Harbor area remains the same for thousands and thousands of families.

The next 24 hours are extremely important to see what the weather events do to these communities. ”

Former tropical Cyclone Alfred remains off the coast of Queensland for hours as a very slow system.

The storm is located outside Bribee Island and is slowly moving northward, the Weather Service (BOM) said.

It is expected to cross the mainland coast between Maroochydor and Bribee Island this morning.

The storm has been downgraded to a low tropical low, so the cyclones are no longer strong, but they continue to beat large areas with rainfall.

The low tropical low winds last near the center of 55km/h, resulting in 85kmph.

It was located 65 km northeast of Brisbane and 40 km southeast of Maroochydor.

Bomb said heavy rain is expected to continue over the weekend in southeast Queensland and northeast New South Wales.

After this year’s catastrophic flood, North Queensland has seen a surge in cases of melioidosis, a fatal bacterial infection, with 119 reported cases, more than triple recorded in 2024 in the same period.

So far, 16 people have died.

Of the confirmed cases, 106 were detected in Cairns and Townsville.

Diseases caused by soil-dwelling bacteria Burkholderia pseudomalleithrives in tropical regions and is usually caused by environmental disruptions such as flooding. Bacteria can enter the body through cutting, inhaling, or contaminated water consumption.

Associate Professor Jeffrey Warner, a microbiology expert at the Australian Institute of Tropical Health Medicine, described melioidosis as an “opportunistic infection” that affects people who are primarily at the root of health conditions such as diabetes and kidney disease.

Large amounts of alcohol intake also increase sensitivity.

This disease, often mistaken for a severe respiratory infection, can progress rapidly to pneumonia and sepsis. “Even if people attend a resourced hospital, the disease can be fatal.” Guardian He quoted Dr. Warner as saying.

Thousands of eastern Australian residents were ordered to evacuate ahead of the tropical Cyclone Alfred landing on Saturday.

Alfred is moving slowly towards the coast, which can cause concern. It is still expected to land as Australia’s third-largest Category 2 storm in northern Brisbane, the weather department said.

“One night we saw it stuffed punches,” said Queensland Prime Minister David Krizafurrli.

“We keep watching the wind today, but then it rains and often it rains, and a lot of the things in the short windows can really be problematic too,” Crisafulli told ABC News.

Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has ruled out calling for the April national elections on Sunday or Monday, as expected, so his government can focus on the approaching cyclones in Queensland.

The government said in a television interview with ABC News on Friday evening, with national elections having to take place by mid-May and expected in April.

Preparation work was carried out on March 25th to deliver the budget, he said.

“We’re not going to do anything distracting us from what we need to do, and all we need to do is look after each other during these difficult times,” Albanese added.

New South Wales SES Commissioner Mike Wassing said at a press conference that 20,000 people in the northeastern part of the state have been given evacuation orders.

The state has 131 warnings, including 40 emergency warnings, but they expect this number to increase.

And emergency services have conducted 35 rescues in the last 24 hours. This is mainly from people driving floods.

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Initially it was expected to make landfall late Thursday or early Friday, but the latest forecast shows Alfred is moving at just 7 kmph, slowing at half the speed of Wednesday.

The storm may not reach the coast until early Saturday. This means millions of people in southeast Queensland and northern New South Wales will withstand wind, heavy rain and dangerous surfing conditions for much longer than expected.

The Australian Prime Minister said Alfred “has no doubt” that it will affect the national economy.

“The businesses are closed and people can’t go to work,” Anthony Albanese said.

“Human influence is one thing. The environmental impact is important, but the economic impact is important too.

“We will do that evaluation in the next few days.”