Tropical Cyclone Alfred news and updates, Friday March 7

Aussie influencer and Moana Bikini business owner Karina Irby has condemned some of her followers who called her “dramatic” while preparing for Cyclone Alfred.

The bikini mogul is in the middle of dealing with her first cyclone and has been documenting her experience online.

However, she has received some nasty comments about her updates.

One follower said when it hits it will just “basically be a storm” and didn’t “understand the dramatics”.

“Comments like this really frustrate me. Firstly, I’m not being dramatic, I’m simply sharing my experience of this cyclone on my platform. If you don’t like it, feel free to leave,” she said in an Instagram post.

“Secondly, this storm is significant and damaging for us. Our homes and businesses are not built to withstand winds like these and we don’t typically experience cyclones here.

“So, while it may not be the biggest storm you’ve encountered that doesn’t diminish the seriousness of the situation we are facing.”

Irby lost power and internet early this morning.

The NSW SES has warned residents in Condong and surrounding areas to leave their homes and take shelter at the nearest evacuation centre.

There are serious flooding concerns.

An emergency warning has also been issued for the Gold Coast with residents told to shelter immediately.

The warning is for coastal areas from Broadbeach to Jacobs Well and South Stradbroke Island.

Emergency services are currently trying to locate a man who was washed into floodwaters in northern NSW.

About 2.20pm there were reports that a 4WD had been washed off a bridge into fast running water while driving across Wild Cattle Creek Bridge off Old Coramba Road, Megan about 23km northeast of Dorrigo.

Police said the driver managed to exit his car and secure himself to a tree branch about 30m from the river bank.

Officers from Coffs/Clarence Police District were able to communicate with the man.

However, shortly after 3pm he was swept from the tree and submerged underwater where he has not been seen since.

Police and SES have begun a preliminary search and are awaiting the assistance of aerial assets.

Residents in northern NSW are at risk of having no access to power for many days as Alfred continues to bring hazardous winds and rain, damaging the electricity network.

As of 4pm today, more than 38,000 homes and businesses in the Northern Rivers and Far North Coast are without electricty, with damage mainly caused by falling trees and branches.

The worst hit areas are between Tweed Heads and Yamba.

Essential Energy will resume repairs as soon as it is safe to do so.

Households should prepare to live in the dark over the coming days.

The Member for Moncrieff on the Gold Coast is currently bunkered down in her home and described her situation to the ABC.

“I’m in the kitchen, my furniture is all around me off the floor in case we get a storm surge from the rock wall, I’m not that far from the beach,” she said.

“We’re all in this together and we will all come out on the other side and help each other, as we do with a fantastic community here on the Gold Coast.

“I think Australians need help at this time and the Prime Minister should really be focused solely on that.”

A reporter quizzed emergency minister Jenny McAllister on whether there will be any support for casual workers stood down due to the cyclone.

Some employees have lost work for days and are looking to be compensated from the Federal Government.

Ms McAllister said: “Our focus right now is on public safety.”

“We are also thinking about the recovery and we will certainly be thinking through those issues in the coming days.”

Deputy Premier Jarrod Bleijie has issued an update on the supermarket situation as some remain open, some have already shut and others have run out of stock.

“I would say to Queensland that you will expect over the next 24 hours for supermarkets to progressively be closing from this afternoon,” she said.

“I really want to pay tribute to the grocery workers, supermarket workers and the retail workers who have kept stores open for as long as they possibly can.”

Distribution centres have also started to close down.

Mr Bleijie had this last piece of advice for Queenslanders: “If you go into your local supermarket website, all the stores will be listed and the times they will be closing from this afternoon.”

Acting police commissioner Shane Chelepy said there thankfully is still “no loss of live” and “no missing persons as a result of this event”.

However, police are starting to see more requests for help as wind and rain gets worse in the Gold Coast area.

Since 10am, the SES responded to 307 jobs, mostly on the Gold Coast, in relation to sandbagging and leaking roofs.

Police responded to 76 jobs this morning.

Doorknocking will continue today for those residents at risk of riverine and flash flooding.

More than 9000 homes have already been doorknocked in Brisbane and surrounding areas.

Mr Crisafulli said the Redlands Satellite Health Centre has closed for the time being as there is a potenial flood risk.

Important medical equipment has been relocated.

All other hospitals are open for emergencies.

Premier David Crisafulli spoke alongside the Bureau of Meterology and Queensland authorities to give the latest on Alfred at a press conference.

He said there are currently 46,036 properties without power.

“The bulk of those, around 40,000, are on the Gold Coast, but there’s about 1700 in the Scenic Rim and about 4800 in the Redlands,” he said.

“Since we last addressed you at 10am there’s been 307 requests for assistance from the SES.

“A lot of those are for tarp roofs, but there’s also been some sandbagging.”