Fears of destruction as ‘erratic’ tropical storm nears Australia

Tens of thousands of people were evacuated and about 84,000 families were left in the dark when a rare tropical hurricane approaches the eastern coast of Australia.

Cyclone Alfred is expected to be made on Saturday morning between the Sunshine Coast coast and the coast of Gold Coast – known as beautiful beaches and browsing Top – as well as Brisbane, the third largest city in Australia.

The hurricane is expected to land, the first to hit the area 50 years, as a second -class wind system of 130 km/h.

It has already caused floods that fear authorities that can worsen during the weekend. The New South Wales police said on Friday that a man was missing after his car washed away in a rapid flow.

Four million people throughout Queensland and northern New South Wales are in the storm launch line.

But his slow progress, which weather experts described as “walking” and “irregular”, raised fears of flash and river floods in low areas.

It is expected to overcome 800 mm of rain in the coming days.

Stephen Valentin and his wife, who live in the city of Logan, south of Brisbane, prepared about 30 liters of water, food for themselves and their pets, and created “protected rooms” in their home located away from the windows.

“At the present time, we are ready as much as we can for something that none of us has passed … nothing has ever before south across the south,” said Mr. Valentine, who grew up in the city.

“We will get the edge of the hurricane often, but not to this level,” he added.

While Queensland is not alien to hurricanes-the country most vulnerable to disaster in Australia-it is rare to come to the south.

“These are difficult times, but the Australians are difficult people, and we are flexible people,” said Prime Minister Anthony Albaniz on Thursday.

Nearly 1,000 schools were closed, and public transport and airport closed were suspended. Flights are not expected to resume until Sunday as soon as possible. Optional surgeries have also been canceled.

last time Hurricane was from where he achieved the size of Alfred in 1974, when Wanda hit January and after two months, through Zoe Al -Sahel.

The flood though is more common. In February 2022, thousands of houses were damaged along a large part of East Australia after heavy rains.

The authorities were keen to prepare societies before the Alfred Hurricane. The Council opened sand warehouses throughout the region to help the residents protect their homes.

“It is a surrealist. We know it is coming, but it is very calm,” said Anthony Singh, a resident of a suburb of Brisbane in West End. Wait for four hours on Wednesday to pick up sand bags to protect his home.

His resident colleague, Mark Clayton, helped coordinate the sand bags group, scraping more than 140 tons of sand.

He says, “I think people are somewhat guessing,” he says. “Will the buildings remain awake, will the roofs remain?

With supermarkets closing now and most of them get home, there is a lot of uncertainty as Australians are waiting for the storm to reach.

But some surfers of skiing have given caution on the growing winds.

“This is what we are looking for,” said Server Jeff Wittal, waiting for a plane skiing to pick it up from Kirra Beach and carrying it in the big waves. “This is the fifth consecutive day – I did nothing but eat, sleep, browse and do it again.”

Kirra Beach is fractured, and its surfers were busy this week with strong winds.

“There are people who will lose their homes, but for the time being, you take the interest of everything. This is just a crazy surfing,” said Server Donny Neil.

Meanwhile, Albanez warned people against taking hurricane warnings seriously.

“This is not a time to see the city’s landmarks or to see what is similar to the experience of these circumstances directly,” he said.

“Please stay safe. Be reasonable.”

Additional reports by Kelly Ng