Australia news live: Tropical Cyclone Alfred updates – gale force winds hit Byron Bay as NSW closes 122 schools and opens evacuation centres

Male nurse in viral video allegedly threatening Israeli patients charged

Thousands without power near Byron Bay

Northern NSW supermarket aisle stripped bare amid panic-buying

A supermarket in Murwillumbah, near the Queensland border in NSW, was seemingly stripped bare shortly after opening as residents rushed to prepare for Tropical Cyclone Alfred.

A resident shared a photo on Facebook of the empty produce aisles at 8am, taken one hour after Coles Murwillumbah opened. They wrote:

A busy start as soon as the doors opened. The lovely staff are working hard to fill stock as it arrives. Please be patient and kind.

Earlier this morning, the NSW premier, Chris Minns, warned against panic buying and said “good logistical lines with major supermarkets” were in place.

PM promises quarter of a million sandbags for Queensland

Intense waves captured at Rainbow Bay beach on Gold Coast

Here are some photos from Snapper Rocks at the southern end of Rainbow Bay on the Gold Coast, where large waves were battering the coast early this morning:

All flights in and out of Ballina cancelled today

Gale force winds over 100km/h start hitting Byron coast

Alfred rainfall made heavier ‘thanks to climate pollution’ – expert

Scientists have warned that a warmer world means fewer, but more destructive, cyclones.

In the 2024 State of the Climate report, the Bureau of Meteorology and CSIRO warn:

Fewer tropical cyclones, but with higher intensity on average, and greater impacts when they occur through higher rain rates and higher sea level.

In a statement from the Climate Council, Prof David Karoly said the extreme rainfall associated with Tropical Cyclone Alfred is “made heavier by the higher moisture content in the atmosphere, due to higher atmospheric and sea surface temperatures, thanks to climate pollution”.

The coastal storm surges, erosion and coastal flooding will be much worse due to the sea level rise in the region, which is more than 20cm since 1900 due to climate pollution.

He said Alfred developed in the wake of record-breaking hot annual sea surface temperatures for the Australian region last year, about 0.89C above the 1961–1990 average.

NSW evacuation centres to open this afternoon

Agencies ‘planning for the worst’ in terms of damage to homes – Minns

Asked how many homes are expected to be affected, Chris Minns said it “fluctuates” and agencies “plan for the worst”.

As far as the actual number of houses, well, many more than we would hope to see, obviously. Our planning is for something a kin to the 2022 natural disaster in Lismore, but I hope it is less than that.

As I said, right through the entire operation since Alfred emerged in the Coral Sea, we have been planning for the worst and hoping for the best.

Minns cautions against panic buying

The NSW premier, Chris Minns, is now taking questions. On the potential for panic buying, he said “good logistical lines with major supermarkets” were in place.

I assure the community that we have good contingency plans in place and, regrettably, this is not the first natural disaster event that the Northern Rivers has had. As a result, both the supermarket chains, the retailers and the NSW government have got good logistical lines into those communities.

I hope people show common sense particularly for things that everybody needs and, remember, if you take more than you need in the next few days, it may be the case that you take it from a neighbour or someone else on the street.

‘Speedy recovery essential for communities’ – Reconstruction Authority

Mal Lanyon, the CEO of the NSW Reconstruction Authority, said the agency has learned from the 2022 floods in Lismore that “speedy recovery is essential for communities”.

To that end, we are preplanning for recovery … even before we go in to the response phase.

He said the agency would work with local councils to “ensure that where essential public assets such as roads need to be fixed quickly, we will work with them to get that done”.

By Thursday night, it will be too late to leave, SES commissioner warns

The SES commissioner, Mike Wassing, said the state was dealing with “three natural disaster events in one”, not seen since Tropical Cyclone Nancy in 1990.

If you live directly on the coast and you know where your high tide is, you will see water potentially half a metre above that high tide mark. Additionally, you will potentially and very likely have wind impacting your location in excess of 100km/h. If you do not feel safe in that location now is the time to relocate.

Wassing said wind of this strength would “likely bring down power lines, trees, [cause] damage and [restrict] access”.

He said it was difficult to predict rainfall but the SES is planning for “significant rainfall that will see significant inundation, isolation and potential need for evacuation.”

I want people to act now, relocate now before those circumstances are occurring. This is not just a rain event, this is a wind event, multiple wind events and then potential flash flood and flooding event.

Now is the time to act – by Thursday afternoon and into Thursday evening it is too late. By that stage we need people to bunker down and ride out the significant wind as the cyclone crosses and then we will deal with what comes on Friday.