Dams on alert as Cyclone Alfred approaches

“There is water in the system at the moment, and you do have catchments that have had rain, so on the back of it, that has to be factored into their modelling,” Crisafulli said.

“We’re asking them to explain that, because that’s important to people – from the point of release to when you might see that in the CBD, there’s a few days in that.”

Sunwater supplies bulk water to the Wide Bay-Burnett region and north-west Queensland.

A spokesperson for Seqwater, which operates the dams that service Brisbane, said its flood operations centre had moved to the “alert” activation stage.

“Specialist flood engineers will continue to monitor and act in response to rainfall and inflows in the catchment,” the spokesperson said late Monday.

“At the moment, there are no gated releases occurring from Wivenhoe, Somerset or North Pine, however these dams are nearing their operational full supply levels and future rainfall in the catchment may result in gated releases.

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“We are continuing operational releases at our dams as business as usual, to provide drinking water to the greater Brisbane area.”

Wivenhoe Dam was built after the 1974 Brisbane flood that claimed 16 lives and destroyed 8000 homes. While the dam was already being planned before the disaster, flood mitigation became a central feature of its design.

At 4am on Tuesday, the Bureau of Meteorology said the cyclone was 560 kilometres east of Brisbane and was moving south-east, but was expected to slow and turn west towards the Queensland coast later today.

The storm was expected to strengthen to category 2 on Tuesday.

“You should prepare to be without power and you should prepare to have your bottled water,” Crisafulli said.

“You should have your spare batteries, a spare charger for your phone, and you should have batteries for a radio.

“You should have all your documents in one location.

“There’s no harm preparing and then not needing it. The harm is in not doing the work and then, when things become a perilous situation, if that gets to it not being ready.”

There were reports of panic buying on Monday, as Crisafulli urged supermarkets to ensure supplies remained available.

“My message to the supermarkets would be get in and serve your customers and restock the shelves and do all you can,” he said.

“That’s important. We’re asking Queenslanders to do the right thing, and that means the supermarkets have to as well.”

Bureau meteorologist Sue Oates said the cyclone would produce potentially destructive winds and locally intense rainfall, leading to flooding.

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“The damaging winds will commence later in the day on Wednesday, and there is currently a tropical cyclone watch for coastal areas from Sandy Cape to the Queensland border detailing this,” she said on Monday afternoon.

“As the system moves closer to towards the coast, and with the understanding that intensification of the system is likely, those destructive winds are possible through Thursday and into Friday.”

Oates said Cyclone Alfred would bring “heavy to intense” rainfall.

“This will bring an increased risk of flash flooding and the likelihood of minor to widespread major flooding,” she said.

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“We’ve currently got a flood watch current for areas from around the Bundaberg area south to the border, and that includes catchments from the Mary River through the Sunshine Coast rivers, and includes the Brisbane River catchment.”

Brisbane CityCat and ferry services ended until further notice on Monday night, following advice from Maritime Safety Queensland.

“I understand this decision will inconvenience people, but the safety of our passengers, crew and vessels must be a top priority,” Lord Mayor Adrian Schrinner said.

“…The combination of high tides, flash flooding, dangerous high winds and intense rainfall creates a serious safety hazard, including debris on the Brisbane River.”

An Energex spokesman said all available crews, vehicles, equipment, and aircraft were being prepared to respond and generators had been deployed at strategic locations to support island communities that were hardest to reach.

Those communities were urged to decide soon whether to evacuate or wait it out.

Acting Police Commissioner Shane Chelepy said Tuesday might be their last chance to get to seek shelter on the mainland.

“If you are making the decision to leave and go and stay with family and friends, please do so,” he said.

“But if you stay, we’ll ensure that we’re there to support you. We are working with every district disaster group to ensure that our vulnerable communities have plans in place.”

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