Latest news Severe storm hits Australia's east coast
Storm "Alfred" has triggered heavy rainfall on Australia's east coast and caused severe flooding. The metropolis of Brisbane alone received almost as much rainfall within two hours on Sunday as it usually does in a whole month - in some districts, entire streets were under water. Only the roof edges of some cars were still visible.
09.03.2025, 09:04
SDA
The Hervey Bay region experienced the heaviest rainfall since 1955, with some areas of Queensland receiving more than 900 liters of rain per square meter during the week. By comparison, Berlin usually receives around 580 liters per year. In addition, there were strong gusts of wind with speeds of more than 100 kilometers per hour, which whipped high waves ashore. Sandy beaches on the Gold Coast that are popular with tourists were destroyed.
"Very serious weather event"
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese issued an urgent warning to his fellow countrymen and spoke of a "very serious weather event" that would not allow any recklessness. Everyone must get to safety. The National Weather Service warned of life-threatening flash floods, particularly in south-east Queensland.
Around 450,000 homes and businesses in Queensland and the neighboring southern state of New South Wales lost power over the weekend. Thousands of rescue workers, volunteers and soldiers were deployed to rescue people from their submerged cars, clear uprooted trees from roads and recover toppled electricity pylons.
Hundreds of thousands of households without power
Originally, "Alfred" was a cyclone off Australia's east coast. However, the cyclone lost strength and was downgraded to a tropical depression before making landfall north-east of Brisbane on Saturday evening (local time). The fact that "Alfred" is only moving slowly is not necessarily an advantage: because the water-soaked clouds are raining out longer in the same place, the potential damage is all the greater, emphasized meteorologist Christine Johnston on the ABC channel.
The authorities had asked thousands of residents in the densely populated region to clear the worst of the storm in advance. Schools, supermarkets and airports were closed and hundreds of thousands of sandbags were distributed to secure homes and businesses. The precautionary measures seemed to help for the most part: Initially, there was talk of one death. It was probably a car driver who got caught in a river with his car and was swept away.
Can a storm be called like the head of government?
The storm also has a political note: according to the usual naming rules, the cyclone should actually have been called "Anthony". However, as parliamentary elections are due to be held in Australia and the social democrat Anthony Albanese has to fear for his re-election, the cyclone was ultimately not given the first name of the prime minister. Instead, "Alfred" was chosen.
