Brisbane to get first cyclone in over 50 years

As I type this, Brisbane is waiting nervously for Cyclone Alfred, a category two cyclone, to hit us and the Sunshine / Gold coast area. The morning started with clear skies and bright sunshine, then as the morning went on, the clouds rolled in, and the wind picked up. To say this is a nervous, anxious time is an understatement. I grew up in Hobart Tasmania where cyclones are only seen on TV. My wife, however, was born here in Brisbane and has been through a few cyclones growing up.

The last cyclone to hit Brisbane and northern New South Wales was Cyclone Zoe in March 1974. Zoe was a Category 2 cyclone bringing wind gusts as high as 164 kilometres per hour.

Although cyclones are a rare event in Brisbane, they are not in far north Queensland. On average, there are 13 cyclones in Australia every year and 4.7 tropical cyclones affect the Queensland Tropical Cyclone Warning Centre Area of responsibility. Not all cyclones make landfall in our area. There have been 207 known impacts from tropical cyclones along the east coast of Queensland since 1858.

The worst cyclone to hit Queensland was Tropical Cyclone Yasi.

Severe Tropical Cyclone Yasi was a powerful and destructive tropical cyclone that made landfall in northern Queensland, Australia in early 2011, causing major damage to the affected areas. Originating as a tropical low near Fiji on the 26th of January, the system intensified to tropical cyclone status during the evening of the 30th of January. Yasi deepened rapidly over the next 24 hours and was classified as a Category 3 cyclone at about 5 PM AEST (07:00 UTC) on the 31st of January 2011.

 

Late on the 1st of February, the cyclone strengthened to a Category 4 system; then, early on the 2nd of February, the cyclone intensified into a Category 5 Severe Tropical Cyclone. The system had a well-defined eye and continued to track west-southwestward, maintaining a central pressure of 930 hPa and a Dvorak intensity of T6.5 into the evening.

Tropical Cyclone Yasi was the biggest storm in Queensland's history, with more than 12,000 people moved from their homes. The storm passed between the two big cities of Cairns and Townsville which only suffered minor damage. Early estimates of damage put the cost at about AU$100 million. It did not cause as much damage as government expected, as it missed two major cities. It did however destroy 30% of the houses in the country town of Tully. At least 75% of the banana crop was destroyed, and damage to the sugar cane farms was expected to cost about AU$500 million. 

Damage to power lines left 250,000 homes without electricity.

This cyclone was due to hit us late Thursday night / early Friday morning, but overnight it had slowed and turned back on itself a little, so the new updated crossing is supposed to be Friday afternoon.