Australia Weather News

Brisbane residents say they were "caught by surprise" by gale-force winds, that lashed much of the city overnight, rattling homes and bringing down trees in the wake of Ex-Cyclone Alfred.

More power was cut to the region's homes, with more than 320,000 people now affected.

Residents from Ashgrove and surrounds, which saw minimal impacts from Alfred's crossing on Friday night and Saturday, say they were "caught by surprise" by last night's gale-force winds.

It was business-as-usual for a lot of the suburb on Friday but Ashgrove local Emily said she woke up today to lots of trees down around the suburb, and most people without power.

"The winds felt cyclonic. Very loud with battering rain," she says.

"The old Queenslander was rattling."

Redcliffe, north of Brisbane, saw a peak gust of 104 kilometres per hour just after 9:30pm, while sustained winds of 65 to 70 kilometres per hour were recorded on the Gold Coast.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said the situation in Queensland and New South Wales remained serious due to flash flooding and strong winds. 

"Heavy rainfall, damaging wind gusts and coastal surf impacts are expected to continue over coming days," he says. 

Queensland Premier David Crisafulli said the system continued "to pack a punch" and the challenge today was going to be the rainfall potentially leading to flooding.

"These systems always continue to provide challenges in the way they approach … whether it's wind or rain," he says.

"Overwhelmingly, people had prepared."

Heavy rain that may lead to flash flooding is forecast to continue to develop across the region today, with six-hourly rainfall totals between 80 and 130 millimetres likely.

Although the system will continue weakening as it moves inland, locally intense rainfall is also possible, with potential 24-hourly totals between 300 and 400 millimetres.

Major flood warnings are current for the Bremer River, Warrill Creek and the Logan River, with a flood watch issued for the entire south-east.

Other locations that may be affected include Warwick, Gold Coast, Toowoomba, Brisbane, Maroochydore, Gympie, Stanthorpe, Caboolture, Coolangatta and Ipswich. 

Power grid repairs underway

Electricity workers are tackling toppled energy lines and vegetation to restore power after cyclonic conditions caused Queensland's biggest natural-disaster blackout this weekend.

The work to restore power comes as some elements of everyday life are restored in the remnants of ex-Tropical Cyclone Alfred, with airports opening and some public transport running again on Sunday.

"There remains a severe weather warning," the bureau's Matthew Collopy said.

Tragedy has also emerged with the body of a missing man, washed away earlier in New South Wales flood waters, being found on Saturday. 

And 13 people were injured in an accident involving two army vehicles on Saturday afternoon near Lismore, where defence forces had been assisting the community with flooding. 

Queensland's south-east and northern New South Wales rarely face the threat of a tropical cyclone.

But the feared widespread wind damage in densely populated cities was avoided when Alfred weakened to a tropical low after striking Moreton Island about 1am on Saturday. 

The weather system then stalled around Bribie Island by late Saturday afternoon and was tipped to gradually move inland near Dalby by early morning.  

Queensland's 'largest loss of power'

The damage has ranged from trees toppling powerlines and falling on homes, to iconic beaches having metres of sand carved out by massive swells and some households on the Tweed Shire being warned to boil water due to problems with sanitation.

Traffic lights were also knocked out — almost half of the Gold Coast's system was faulty as of Saturday afternoon. The wild weather caused 330,000 homes and businesses to lose power in south-east Queensland.

"That's the largest-ever loss of power from a natural disaster in Queensland's history," Premier David Crisafulli said.

"It shows you the scale of the destruction because of that populated area."

Power had been restored to some spots and about 276,000 places still lacked electricity on Saturday afternoon.

State-owned Energex, which maintains the network, said while it understood people wanted clarity about restorations, "we're looking at extensive damage over a very large area".

"It's going to take time to build this picture," Energex said.

NSW government-owned Essential Energy said 31,000 homes and businesses were without power on Saturday afternoon, having restored energy at 19,000 locations. It said challenges included getting to hinterland areas and clearing vegetation.

'This can't be trivialised'

Flood warnings included a minor warning for the Brisbane River, a major one for the Logan River. 

Lismore, which has suffered repeated inundation in the past 15 years, was of concern too.

NSW Premier Chris Minns also urged people not to be lulled into a false sense of security, even with the cyclone being downgraded. 

"This can't be … trivialised," he said.

Further south in NSW, the body of a 61-year-old driver, swept away after his vehicle hit floodwaters near Dorrigo, which lies inland from Coffs Harbour, was found on Saturday.

And army personnel were among 22 people injured after an accident involving two army vehicles near Lismore, it emerged on Saturday evening. 

NSW Ambulance had helped transport the injured to Lismore Base Hospital.

In Queensland, no loss of life or missing persons had been reported.

"We are really keen to keep it that way," Queensland police acting commissioner Shane Chelepy said. 

He urged people to not take unnecessary risks with a "lot of rain forecast" for the next few days.

Some public transport to resume

Mr Crisafulli said some bus services would restart but not on the Gold Coast. Some ferry services would return in Moreton Bay but rail services would remain offline on Sunday.

"There's a lot of assessment work that needs to be done," he said.

Airports were also reopening on Sunday.

Mr Crisafulli argued people could make responsible decisions about deciding whether to reopen their businesses.

"The answer is that small business knows. They know if they're in a flood area, they know their clientele, they know their own capacity, and we have faith in them making the right decision," he said.

"And we'll give them the tools and the information and they'll make the right decision."

Mr Crisafulli flagged that authorities were endeavouring to see if some schools could reopen on Monday, but said a decision would be revealed on Sunday.

In northern NSW, more than 290 schools are to be closed until at least Tuesday with the NSW education department saying it was anticipated operations would resume early in the week.

On the Gold Coast, acting mayor Donna Gates said council was looking to open community centres and libraries, where people could charge devices. 

She said inspectors had looked at a sea wall protecting strips of its beaches and found no material damage on Friday night. 

Asked how long it would take to repair the tourist-famous beaches, she said: "It's going to take a while for sure."