Ex-Tropical Cyclone Alfred has battered South-East Queensland again, causing flash flooding, power outages, and widespread damage. Hervey Bay saw 300mm of rain, while 100 km/h winds hit Brisbane and the Gold Coast. Nearly 250,000 homes remain without power, with school reopenings assessed individually.
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00:00Taken off guard, Fraser Coast residents were not expecting this.
00:11Locals thought they were outside the firing line.
00:14The ferocity of the downpour a surprise.
00:17It was all pretty calm but we were just watching out for everything, all the news reports and
00:21then all of a sudden, bang, it came out of nowhere mate.
00:23We were expecting a little bit of rain but not this much and not this quick.
00:28More than 300 millimetres pelted down, prompting an emergency alert.
00:33This woman had to be rescued as floodwaters suddenly rose.
00:37She was one of dozens across the region who needed to be evacuated.
00:41The raging torrent threatened caravan parks.
00:44We are actually in some trouble.
00:46Whole streets were quickly engulfed and businesses inundated.
00:51Workers at Tom O'Neill's shop spent the morning mopping up.
00:54So I looked at the rest of the cameras and then seen everything floating inside and went
00:58oh, this isn't good.
00:59Further south, the second bone rattling night.
01:05The tropical low again pummeling the south east.
01:09North of Brisbane, these Clontarf residents had the fright of their lives, a tree crashing
01:14onto their home.
01:15We were in the hallway and heard a loud thud and just had to stay there until we saw it
01:21this morning.
01:22Kids spent the evening before sheltering elsewhere, not expecting last night to be
01:27worse.
01:28Because the weather looked good yesterday, we moved everything back in the house and
01:32ended up, yeah, getting caught out.
01:34There is no doubt that it continues to pack a punch.
01:37Gusts of more than 100 kilometres per hour were clocked.
01:40Yeah, it was blowing a gale.
01:42Then pounding rain.
01:43How are you doing?
01:44Doing all good.
01:45We're just watching the creek at the back now, it's sort of broken its banks but we're
01:50on sort of going low tide at the moment, so fingers crossed.
01:54Across Brisbane, waterways overflowed.
01:57Low lying streets and the cars left there swamped.
02:00A spectacle for some.
02:02Right in front of our eyes, it's just going so fast.
02:05Wet roads without traffic lights made driving dangerous.
02:09This Brisbane resident says he bought his house knowing it could flood underneath.
02:13We just took a chance.
02:14It's good to take a chance sometimes, you know.
02:16Authorities are warning everyone to stay on guard in the short term.
02:20The heavy rainfall will continue and flash flooding is a high risk.
02:25We've not had any loss of life from this weather event and I'd be really keen to keep it that way.
02:30But the system is expected to ease in coming days.
02:33We have no plans to open the Wyvern Home and Somerset Gates at the moment with the rainfall
02:38that we can see on the ground at the moment.
02:40Hundreds of thousands remain without power or telecommunications.
02:45From the Gold Coast, some have been in the dark for days.
02:48You know, we're on candles, we're on gas, we've been able to cook.
02:52Kids have been doing a lot of painting activities and we're just trying to be back how we used
02:57to be when we were young, without a bit of technology.
03:00Exhausted residents dealing with this disaster for days are being urged to stay vigilant.
03:06With the beginning of a new week, some people will be returning to work, with services,
03:11schools and businesses up and running where possible.
03:15A return to normal life, hopefully not too far off.