Murray Olds: Australian correspondent on the ongoing impact of ex-Cyclone Alfred

Despite relief from Australians after being spared the worst from ex-cyclone Alfred - the storm is still causing havoc.

New reports show hundreds of trees are down and over 350,000 homes and businesses have lost power in Queensland and New South Wales.

Flooding continues to be an issue in areas such as Lismore, where 13 defence force personnel were injured in a crash. 

Australian correspondent Murray Olds says the storm is still packing an 'enormous punch'.

"Qantas and Jetstar were hoping to resume flights by Sunday morning - the latest news there, Brisbane Airport has reopened, but there's still very strong winds to the point where it's not safe to get these planes in the air."

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:06):
You're listening to the Sunday Session podcast with Francesca Rudgin
from News Talks EDB.

Speaker 2 (00:12):
Psycohone Alfred and Queensland and New South Wales has downgraded
to a tropical low after hitting mainland last night. A
sixty one year old man died after being swept away
by floodwaters in northern New South Wales. More than two
hundred and sixty thousand homes and businesses are left without
power as of yesterday. Australian correspondent Murray Olds joins me. Now,
good morning, Murray, thanks your time.

Speaker 3 (00:34):
No worries, Francesca, Yes, good morning to you. I'm nice
and dry down here in Sydney. But boy, oh boy,
they're getting smacked up north big time. Yes.

Speaker 2 (00:41):
So what was it like when the cyclone hit the mainland.

Speaker 3 (00:44):
Well, we'll get it sort of run out of puff.
As you said, it's now been called ext tropical cyclone Alfred.
It's a bit of a mouthful. Certainly. Alfred was threatening
all last week. It was coming in from the ocean.
It arrived sort of fridayish packed on Bribe Island and
then as you say, arrived across the coast and much

(01:06):
diminished in terms of energy, in terms of destructive power
as it crossed the coast around nine o'clock last night,
came in just north of Brisbane. But of course that
is not to understate the just extraordinary impact it's had.
I mean, if you know anything about Queensland, say the
coast out passed to Womba, that's where heavy rains and

(01:30):
very very strong winds are being felt. It's the same
south of the border. Because this system, this weather system
is still packing an enormous punch. So you've got this morning,
the last stat I saw three hundred and fifty thousand
homes and businesses blacked out, So you know, it gives
you a sense of the scale. Here, I'm just looking

(01:51):
through my notes. Here, you've got Quantison Jetstar. We're hoping
to resume flights Sunday morning. This morning the latest news
there Brisbane Airport has reopened, but of course there are
still very very strong winds to the point where it's
not safe to get these planes in the air. They're
trying to positioned aircraft from around eastern Australia, but while
ever these winds are happening, they can't get the aircraft flying.

(02:15):
Overnight in Brisbane torrential rain, very strong winds, two people
hurt by falling trees, one of those in hospital. You've
got also an inquiry now underway Franchester into how on Earth.
Two big army trucks collided near Lismore in northern New
South Wales. The Army was called in across the weekend,

(02:35):
early in the weekend, in fact, I think they were
called on Friday. Anyway, there were thirty six people on
these two trucks that at least one of them rolled,
and thirteen they are in hospital, three of them very
very seriously. So you've got a whole lot of moving
parts and there's no way known this emergency is anywhere
near over they've got flood the warnings in northern New

(02:57):
South Wales. And these are the same people who were
smacked by massive flooding only three years ago. They're still traumatized.
They were coming out of COVID, the poor buggers, and
then all of a sudden this weather of ben arrived
and they were getting round. So it is just so
tough for a lot of these communities, small communities, many
people can't afford the share its. There's not a lot
of work there. They sort of retire there so many

(03:19):
people have built on floodplains. As soon as the river rises,
I mean, their modest accommodations are often swept away. Marie.

Speaker 2 (03:29):
Are there any thoughts on recovery yet or is the
focus just on getting through at the stage.

Speaker 3 (03:34):
Oh, look, it's a bit of both to me, honest,
it's a very good question because you know, we are
in election mode over here. Anthony Alberneasing the Prime Minister,
making it very clear late last week and to anyone
who will listen to him, there are emergency payments available
to people to help that initial sort of stage of
the clean up. But it's very very much still in

(03:55):
so much of this disasters only you like from Harvey
Bay Way up north of Brisbane to know, mid north
coast of New South Wales. That's probably I'm guessing now,
but maybe if I said, it's almost the length of
New Zealand. So it's a hell of a it's a
hell of a zone and people are just trying to
hang on and they've got very strong winds forecast today.

(04:18):
More rain is on the way. Rivers are rising, particularly
in southern New South Wales because the rain is landing
now up at the headwaters of these rivers, and there's
very intricate and very very numerous river systems that feed
down to the coast. So you've still got the weather
event happening. People are beginning by with generators. There's one

(04:40):
guy who makes pies. I saw him on the news
last night. He said, I don't know how the help
we're going to possibly cope because everybody's turning up on
a handful the pies, the people that were working their
tails off trying to help their neighbors.

Speaker 2 (04:53):
Are there any more idiots going to the closed beaches?

Speaker 3 (04:57):
Well you've seen a few, haven't you. And I mean
some of the wave heights are just astonishing. I mean
twelve thirteen fourteen meters. This is off the coast, but
imagine that much power they are packing when they get
into make landfall. And there are these fools who are
up and you know, we've got lovely coastal pools over here,
people hanging out of the railings and the waves arrive. Well,

(05:17):
you know the basic warning the police don't do that,
because what they do is then put themselves and others
who go to their rescue at risk. You had one
guy you mentioned, the sixty one year old fellow. He
was in northern New South Wales, tried to cross a
bridge that looked to be safe. He had a big
four wheel drive, you like a high lux of something

(05:38):
along those lines, and he was simply swept away and
he managed to get out of his vehicle hang under
a tree for half an hour. He was communicating with rescuers.
They had no way getting to him, and sadly he
lost his grip and fell into the water. And now
they found his body as another person also missing. But
luckily that that death toll is not as high as
it's been previously in these similar events. You don't get

(06:01):
these cyclones all the time. I mean the last cyclone
they had in this part of the world this fast
South was nineteen ninety and prior to that nineteen seventy four,
so there's a very rare events. But boy boy, when
they arrived, they pack a punch.

Speaker 2 (06:15):
Murray, thank you for your time this morning. Really appreciate it. Yes,
we hope that those wins and that rain starts to
listen over the day. Thank you for the update. It
is twenty nine past nine. You're with the Sunday Session.

Speaker 1 (06:28):
For more from the Sunday Session with Francesca Rudkin. Listen
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