Australian correspondent
The wind hit the Australian Gold Coast, and so did the tension. But while the authorities warn the residents to stay indoors as the Alfred cyclone approach, stubborn surfers throw caution on a growing wind.
“That’s what we look forward to,” said Surfer Jeff Weatherll as he waited for the jet ski to pick him up from Kirra Beach and take him to large waves. “This is the fifth day straight – I didn’t do anything but eat, sleep, surf and repeat it.”
The cyclone is expected to make a land system as a two -category system on Saturday morning.
Kirra Beach is known for her shatters, and the surfers were busy this week, catching strong winds.
“There are people who will lose their homes, but at this point you are taking good of everything. This is just crazy surfing,” said Surfer Donnie Neal.
Cyclon Alfred’s path has slowed down in recent days and has been “unnoticed” towards time experts, which is why the land was delayed by earlier predictions.
“Category system means winds near the center up to 95 km/h (59mph), with raids up to 130 km/h,” says Matthew Collopy Bureau of Meteorology.
The second meteorologist described his progress as “pace of walking”, which caused concern that he could bring a longer period of heavy rain and flood.
Four million people are in the shooting of the Alfred cyclone. It is expected to hit between the coast of the sun and the gold coast – part of Australia known for its beautiful beaches and top -notch surfing – as well as in Brisbane, the third largest city of Australia with almost 3 million inhabitants.
While sharp surfers used the wind and waves, most of the inhabitants descend indoors.
Stephen Valentine and his wife, who live in Logan City south of Brisbane, prepared about 30 liters of water, food for themselves and their pets and set up a “protected room” in their home -located home.
“At this point we are ready as we can be for something that none of us went through … Nothing went so south through the south,” said Mr. Valentine, who grew up in the city.
“We would get the edge of the cyclone so often, but not to this level,” he added.
Although Queensland is not a stranger to cyclones-it’s the country that is most vulnerable in Australia-it is often that they come so much south.
Like strong winds, Cyclone Alfred is expected to reject as much as 800 mm of rain in the coming days, affecting the large area of southern Queensland and northern new southern Wales. Flash and river floods are the biggest concerns in low areas.
“These are difficult times, but Australians are difficult people, and we are resistant people,” Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said on Thursday, echoing the acting actor Donn Gates Gold Coast, who said Cyclone Alfred “is a scary proposal for the region.
New South Wales police said on Friday that one man disappeared after his four -wheel drive was stabbed into a ranked River.
From Friday, more than 84,000 homes in two countries were without authorities, and tens of thousands were more under the evacuation orders.
Nearly 1,000 schools are closed, public transportation has been suspended and the airports are closed. Flights are not expected to continue until Sunday the earliest. Election operations have also been canceled.
Last time The Alfred size cyclone was in 1974, when Wanda hit in January and then two months later, Zoe crossed the coast.
The flood is more common though. In February 2022. Thousands of homes were damaged along most of Australia in the east after heavy rain.
Authorities wanted to prepare the communities on the eve of the Alfred cyclone. The Council opened the warehouses of sand bags across the region to help residents protect their homes.
“It’s surreal. We know it’s coming, but it’s very quiet,” said Anthony Singh, a resident of Brisbane’s suburbs West Enda. On Wednesday, he waited four hours to pick up sandbags to protect his home.
Resident Mark Clayton, helped coordinate a collection of sand bags, shoves over 140 tons of sand.
“I think people are a little worried,” he says. “Will the buildings stay up, will the roofs stay? People expect a lot of trees to go down and lose power for a long time.”
Because now closed supermarkets and people have mostly taken away at home, there are many uncertainty while the Australians are waiting for the storm to hit.
