Ex-Cyclone Alfred live: Eerie scenes in Woolworths as stores reopen, Brisbane nears rain record as emergency warnings issued

Yahoo

09-03-2025

Hello and welcome to Yahoo's live coverage this Monday as Ex-Tropical Cyclone Alfred continues to bring massive rainfall for parts of southeast Queensland. There are a host of emergency flood warnings now in place with the Bureau of Meteorology saying all rivers in the region have experienced "significant" rises.
Woolworths and Coles are slowly reopening stores after shutting down amid the weather system. Eerie vision from shoppers at stores shows stores with barely any stock on the shelves as the supermarkets work tirelessly to get essentials to impacted communities.
Follow along as we bring you regular updates throughout the day.
We bring you some sad pictures now of injured wildlife as a result of Ex-Tropical Cyclone Alfred.
Wildlife authorities had stressed the dangers the weather system posed to native wildlife crews have been busy treating those found injured.
Environmental charity Byron Bay Wildlife Hospital reopened its doors on Sunday to a flood of patients impacted by the destructive weather event. Working with local wildlife rescue groups, during the first few hours of re-opening native animal patients included an injured koala, an eastern grey kangaroo, a Flying fox, Sea Turtle hatchlings and a Swamp hen.
The RACQ shared striking images of Brisbane's Kedron Brook yesterday, showing just how much water levels had risen in a day.
Those in southeast Queensland and northern NSW are being told to stay well clear of rivers and creeks over fears of flash flooding as the rain continues to fall.
Energy networks are stressing they're doing whatever they can to restore power to homes and businesses after more than 230,000 remain without power.
Over the weekend, that figure peaked at 300,000 and led to residents being warned that they could face at least a week without power.
Energex chief operations officer Paul Jordan told Sunrise they were "giving it everything we possibly can" to restore power.
Drivers are continuing to ignore pleas from authorities not to drive into floodwaters and the ABC spotted a driver forced to leave his vehicle outside Officeworks in the Brisbane suburb of Windsor early this morning after becoming stuck in the floodwaters.
The city has received near 300mm in the past 24 hours and Premier David Crisafulli is urging residents to "know the risk" these challenging conditions pose. He also urged people to plan their route to higher ground if they needed to evacuate.
Coles and Woolworths have begun to open stores where it's safe to do so however shoppers are being met with empty shelves.
Residents have shared their experiences returning to supermarkets, with one Gold Coast shopper showing empty shelves at her local Woolworths.
With fears the ongoing rain could again cause further disruptions, shoppers are quickly snapping up essential items like milk and water, leaving many empty-handed.
The supermarkets had warned it would be operating with limited staff amid Alfred, with Coles and Woolworths stressing the safety of staff was a priority.
Read more about the empty shelves here.
Let's start with the huge amount of rain that has fallen in the past 24 hours.
Brisbane CBD's total since 9am yesterday, just shy of a 24-hour period, stands at a staggering 275mm. To put that into perspective, the city averages about 140mm over the entire month of March. The city is edging very close to breaking its daily rainfall record for March.
The highest total for the Brisbane area has been 349mm at Green Hill Reservoir, the Bureau of Meteorology said.
Outside of Brisbane, Wongawallan, on the northwest side of the Gold Coast, has reached 400mm in the past 24 hours.
Nambour, inland from the Sunshine Coast, has received 349mm in the same period.
Do you have a story tip? Email: [e-mail].
You can also follow us on Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, Twitter and YouTube.
We bring you some sad pictures now of injured wildlife as a result of Ex-Tropical Cyclone Alfred.
Wildlife authorities had stressed the dangers the weather system posed to native wildlife crews have been busy treating those found injured.
Environmental charity Byron Bay Wildlife Hospital reopened its doors on Sunday to a flood of patients impacted by the destructive weather event. Working with local wildlife rescue groups, during the first few hours of re-opening native animal patients included an injured koala, an eastern grey kangaroo, a Flying fox, Sea Turtle hatchlings and a Swamp hen.
The RACQ shared striking images of Brisbane's Kedron Brook yesterday, showing just how much water levels had risen in a day.
Those in southeast Queensland and northern NSW are being told to stay well clear of rivers and creeks over fears of flash flooding as the rain continues to fall.
Energy networks are stressing they're doing whatever they can to restore power to homes and businesses after more than 230,000 remain without power.
Over the weekend, that figure peaked at 300,000 and led to residents being warned that they could face at least a week without power.
Energex chief operations officer Paul Jordan told Sunrise they were "giving it everything we possibly can" to restore power.
Drivers are continuing to ignore pleas from authorities not to drive into floodwaters and the ABC spotted a driver forced to leave his vehicle outside Officeworks in the Brisbane suburb of Windsor early this morning after becoming stuck in the floodwaters.
The city has received near 300mm in the past 24 hours and Premier David Crisafulli is urging residents to "know the risk" these challenging conditions pose. He also urged people to plan their route to higher ground if they needed to evacuate.
Coles and Woolworths have begun to open stores where it's safe to do so however shoppers are being met with empty shelves.
Residents have shared their experiences returning to supermarkets, with one Gold Coast shopper showing empty shelves at her local Woolworths.
With fears the ongoing rain could again cause further disruptions, shoppers are quickly snapping up essential items like milk and water, leaving many empty-handed.
The supermarkets had warned it would be operating with limited staff amid Alfred, with Coles and Woolworths stressing the safety of staff was a priority.
Read more about the empty shelves here.
Let's start with the huge amount of rain that has fallen in the past 24 hours.
Brisbane CBD's total since 9am yesterday, just shy of a 24-hour period, stands at a staggering 275mm. To put that into perspective, the city averages about 140mm over the entire month of March. The city is edging very close to breaking its daily rainfall record for March.
The highest total for the Brisbane area has been 349mm at Green Hill Reservoir, the Bureau of Meteorology said.
Outside of Brisbane, Wongawallan, on the northwest side of the Gold Coast, has reached 400mm in the past 24 hours.
Nambour, inland from the Sunshine Coast, has received 349mm in the same period.