The cyclone tracking towards Australia on Wednesday night. Photo: ABC / Bureau of Meteorology
Cyclone Alfred's western edge is already is already having an effect on Australia's east coast.
Weather experts are predicting it will cross the coast early on Friday morning with damaging wind gusts, storms, and heavy rainfall expected to impact a large warning zone spanning Queensland and NSW.
It is expected to make landfall between the Gold Coast and southern parts of Wide Bay region as early as Thursday evening as a category 2 cyclone.
The tropical cyclone warning zone extends from Double Island Point in Queensland to Grafton in New South Wales, including Brisbane, Gold Coast, Sunshine Coast, Byron Bay and Ballina but not including Grafton, the Bureau of Meteorology (BOM) said.
"Tropical Cyclone Alfred will continue its approach towards the southeast Queensland coast, with the far western edge already impacting the coast from about Coolangatta to Ballina.
"Alfred is a category 2 cyclone, and is forecast to maintain this intensity as it continues to approach the southeast Queensland coast.
A person watching massive waves stirred up by Tropical Cyclone Alfred break onto the North Wall breakwater in the coastal NSW town of Ballina, on 5 March, 2025. Photo: AFP/ David Gray
"The centre of Alfred is expected to cross the coast during Friday, most likely between Maroochydore and Coolangatta."
Right now, BOM says damaging wind gusts of 120 kilometres an hour are developing near the coast from Coolangatta to Ballina.
"Destructive wind gusts of up to 155 kilometres per hour may develop about coastal and island locations near and to the south of the track, possibly as far south as about Cape Byron, late Thursday or early Friday as Alfred's destructive core approaches and crosses the coast."
Meanwhile, Meta, the parent company for Facebook, said it has now resolved an issue that meant search results for "Cyclone Alfred"were blocked or hidden and blamed it on a "technical issue".
The platform is a key communication channel for emergency coverage in Australia and is used to help broadcast evacuation orders and other updates to residents during a crisis.
According to Meta's own data, more than 300,000 accounts and pages on Facebook have been posting about Cyclone Alfred. However, users who tried to learn more about it using the search term on the social media platform were coming up with empty or non-related results on Wednesday.
"Facebook has not intentionally blocked or hidden search results relating to Cyclone Alfred," a spokesperson for the company said.
"We did experience a technical issue, which our teams have been working to resolve, and relevant information should now be available for most users.
"We apologise for the mistake and hope everyone stays safe."
-ABC
