What happened

Tropical Low 22U formed in the Coral Sea, off the Queensland coast, on 21 February 2025. By 23 February it grew into a tropical cyclone and was named Tropical Cyclone Alfred. It became a Category 4 cyclone on 27 February and then moved south.

Between 3 and 14 March, Alfred affected parts of northern New South Wales, including the Northern Rivers, Mid North Coast, and New England/North West areas.

On 4 March, Alfred suddenly turned towards the south-east Queensland coast, near Brisbane. For a few days it moved in an unusual way, sometimes looping back, before it finally crossed the coast.

Alfred crossed Moreton Island as a Category 1 cyclone early on 8 March. It weakened as it moved over Bribie Island and then reached the mainland later that night. The event brought strong winds, heavy rain, flooding, and coastal erosion in both northern NSW and southern Queensland.

Key numbers

• Strongest point: Category 4 cyclone (about 165 km/h average winds over 10 minutes)
• Strong winds: up to about 120 km/h during peak periods in affected areas
• Rainfall: about 70–400 mm in different locations
• Power outages: more than 500,000 people lost power at some point
• Transport impacts: In Queensland: about 693 km of state-controlled roads were affected

Emergency response in Queensland

Queensland’s State Disaster Coordination Centre (SDCC) started operating on Monday, 3 March. It ran for 13 days, with 23 agencies involved and about 240 staff.

Queensland also worked early with New South Wales agencies. This helped both states share information, send consistent warnings, and plan recovery work together.

During the response, local councils created 229 warnings that met the 'Australian Warning System' (AWS) standard and published them on the state warnings map. Councils also sent 27 emergency alerts.

More than 1,000,000 sandbags were given out across South East Queensland. Response teams also knocked on about 10,000 doors and contacted people in vulnerable social housing to make sure they had information and support. The SDCC worked with supermarkets and transport companies so essential items could be restocked and stores could reopen in affected areas.

Emergency response in New South Wales

In New South Wales, the response was led by the NSW State Emergency Service (NSW SES). Three Incident Management Teams (IMTs) were set up from 3 March 2025 in Goonellabah, Metford, and Tamworth. More than 3,300 NSW SES members helped, along with about 790 people from 24 other agencies.

The Australian Defence Force (ADF) also helped the NSW SES with preparation, door knocking, delivering supplies, logistics, and early recovery work.

Emergency Operations Centres (EOCs) were set up to help agencies (including councils) work together. This included the NSW State Emergency Operations Centre (SEOC), a North Coast regional centre, and local centres in places like Port Macquarie, Mid Coast, Coffs Harbour, Lismore, and Tweed Heads.

The NSW SES recorded 7,786 incidents during this event, including 90 flood rescues. Many incidents were in the Ballina, Casino, Coffs Harbour, Grafton, Lismore, Mullumbimby, Tweed Heads, Tweed Coast, and Yamba areas. The NSW SEOC also received over 14,197 calls, mostly about sandbags and storm damage.

During the response, the NSW SES carried out flood rescues and helped with storm and water-damage jobs. Teams also delivered supplies to communities that were cut off, including food, water, and medicine. The ADF sent over 700 personnel and about 120 vehicles into northern NSW (from bases in NSW and Queensland) to support the response.

Impacts

There was a serious risk to people and property across north-east NSW and large parts of Queensland. The main dangers were strong winds, river flooding, and flash flooding.

One person died in NSW after a vehicle was swept off Wild Cattle Creek Bridge at Megan (north-east of Dorrigo). Several ADF members were also injured when two ADF vehicles rolled over while working in Lismore.

Long power outages also caused problems with phone and internet services. Telstra and Optus reported that 598 mobile sites stopped working across Queensland and northern NSW.

In Queensland, some sewage treatment plants were disrupted in Redland City, Gold Coast City, Logan City, and Fraser Coast council areas. This happened because floodwater damaged electrical equipment. Some water treatment plants were also affected as creeks and rivers peaked.

Both states also had major coastal erosion. On some beaches, sand cliffs (scarps) were up to about 6 metres high because of large waves. Tourism businesses were also hit, with an estimated $68 million lost from cancellations.

Farmers and food producers were also affected. Some transport routes and ports closed, and power outages disrupted livestock processing facilities.

Insurance impacts

On 12 May 2025, the Insurance Council of Australia reported more than 116,000 insurance claims linked to damage after ex-Tropical Cyclone Alfred. The total cost was more than $1.2 billion. Many claims were for spoiled food, wind damage, and water getting into buildings.