Tropical Cyclone Alfred news and updates, Friday March 7

“Overnight I have approved the request for 120 ADF personnel to depart immediately for NSW,” Mr Albanese said.

“They will start work today supporting the local SES door-knocking, as well as conducting welfare checks on vulnerable members of the community.

“They will support the SES with road clearance, sandbagging, clearing access to critical infrastructure, damage assessments and essential services.

“The chief medical officer has activated the Department of Health and Aged Care National Incident Centre for Tropical Cyclone Alfred.

“The National Incident Centre is activateed when there’s a significant event or emerging threat.

“It’s a coordination mechanism to ensure that communication is maintained between the Commonwealth Department of Health, State Health authorities and response agencies.

“We have delivered, as was reported more than 375,000 sandbags.

“Can I say, everyone has to accept personal responsibility here, too,” Mr Albanese said.

“This isn’t a time for sight seeing, or for seeing what it’s like to experience these conditions first hand.

“Please, stay safe. Be sensible. Keep distance from these events and the impact that is happening.”

“The latest modelling, as you have heard, is that Tropical Cyclone Alfred will make impact in the early hours of tomorrow morning or at some stage tomorrow, it would appear,” Mr Albanese said.

“Rainfall and wind impacts are expected to continue increasing throughout today.

“We’re starting to see the impact on the coast and record wave heights recorded at the Gold Coast of 12.3m.”

“An impact we must bear in mind is an impact on people, firstly, an impact on infrastructure but importantly aswell an impact on people’s psyche,” Mr Albanese said.

“Many of these communities have suffered harsh event after harsh event

“I think particularly the people of Lismore, for example, have been knocked down, (but) they get up.

“Now they have this being confronted with this.”

“As the storm bears down, we know that we’re not Queenslanders or NSW people at this time, we’re all Australians helping each other out,” Mr Albanese said.

“The cyclone crossing the land is now less than 24 hours away, but already we’re seeing the increase rainfall having an impact there.”

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese is provding an update on Cyclone Alfred.

“When nature is at its worse, Australians are at their best, Mr Albanese said.

“We rally, lookout for each other, look out for your neighbours, local communities.

“Communities come together at a time like this.

“We get each other through the dark times hour by hour and day by day.”

The Bureau has announced Cyclone Alfred is now 140km east of the Gold Coast and 165 km east of Brisbane.

“Tropical Cyclone Alfred will continue to move slowly towards the southeast Queensland coast,” BOM said in updated advice.

“Alfred, a category 2 tropical cyclone is now expected to cross the coast early Saturday morning, most likely close to Moreton Bay between Noosa and Coolangatta.

The Bureau said sustained winds near the centre measure around 100km/h with wind gusts to 140km/h.

Ms Bradbury said Cyclone Alfred is still “being analysed as a category two system”.

“(It is) expected to remain a category two system as it moves toward the coast,” she said.

“We may even see it weaken back to a category one system as it reaches those offshore islands and interacts with that land mass. So crossing the mainland coast as a category one or category two system.

“Again, like that point of crossing, getting fixated on exactly what category it’s going to be is really only taking a look at the top wind gusts.

“The widespread strong to damaging winds will be there, whether it’s a category one or a category two, as well as that heavy rainfall.

Senior meteorologist at the Bureau of Meteorology Miriam Bradbury has warned those in Cyclone Alfred’s path to not get complacent if the landfall location changes.

“We still expect the coastal crossing to occur somewhere between Maroochydore and Coolangatta,” she told Sunrise.

“One thing I really want to emphasise is they’re getting really focused on that exact point of crossing is disregarding the fact that we are expecting the wind, rain and wave impacts over a much, much broader area.

“We’ve already seen those really, really windy conditions picking up across the Gold Coast in the overnight period, plenty of damage already being seen and we’ve heard about the large waves, the damaging surf that’s continuing to erode the beaches and cause inundation.”

The Bureau of Meteorology says Cyclone Alfred now may maintain its intensity as it makes landfall.

The tropical storm, located 185km west of Brisbane, is still a category two event.

Data released on Thursday suggested it may loose some strength and hit as a category one. However, the latest data on the slow moving system that is already bringing destructive conditions shows it is now likely to remain a category two.

“Tropical Cyclone Alfred continues to move slowly towards the southeast Queensland coast,” the BOM said.

“Alfred, a category 2 tropical cyclone, is expected to remain of similar intensity until it crosses the coast late Friday evening or early Saturday, most likely close to Moreton Bay between Noosa and Coolangatta.”