Australia NOW! Worst Power Outage in History – Cyclone Alfred’s Destructive Path!

Tropical Cyclone Alfred formed on February 22 over the Coral Sea, approximately 800 miles north of Brisbane, Australia. For about a week, the cyclone moved south and southeast, occasionally intensifying. Initial meteorological forecasts suggested that Alfred would remain offshore, as cyclones in this region often follow such a trajectory and dissipate over the ocean.

However, on March 4, the cyclone suddenly turned westward and headed toward the Australian coast.

Although Alfred had significantly weakened, it still posed a serious threat to the areas in its path. Its slow movement exacerbated the destructive impact, allowing heavy rains, storm surges, and strong winds to batter densely populated coastal regions for several days before making landfall.

The Gold Coast and its famous canal network were among the first to suffer. Floodwaters turned city streets into rivers, and sharks appeared in the overflowing waterways. Footage of bull sharks swimming through flooded neighborhoods quickly spread across news channels.

Alfred reached Moreton and Bribie Islands on the evening of Friday, March 7, and just a few hours later, early Saturday, it made landfall near Brisbane. At that point, its strength was equivalent to a tropical storm according to the U.S. National Weather Service classification or a Category 2 storm on the Australian tropical cyclone intensity scale.

In some areas of the eastern coast, total rainfall exceeded 31 inches, leading to flash floods. Brisbane received 8 inches of rain in just 24 hours, the equivalent of two months' worth of precipitation. Meanwhile, Fraser Island's coastline saw 9 inches of rainfall in only six hours.

Destructive wind gusts reaching 60 mph uprooted trees and tore roofs off houses.

As a result of the storm, 330,000 homes and businesses in Queensland lost power. No other natural disaster in the state's history had caused a more extensive power outage. In New South Wales, 45,000 properties were left without electricity.

Despite warnings, not everyone managed to avoid tragedy. In Dorrigo, a 61-year-old man tried to escape the flooding by climbing a tree, but the strong current swept him away. In Lismore, 12 soldiers were injured in a traffic accident while en route to a rescue mission. The New South Wales State Emergency Service reported receiving over 6,000 calls for assistance.
Beyond Alfred’s unpredictable trajectory, the cyclone had another unusual characteristic.

Tropical cyclones rarely travel this far south along Australia's east coast. The last time something similar happened was in 1974 when Cyclone Zoe made landfall near the Queensland–New South Wales border.

This pattern is observed across all ocean basins: tropical cyclones, typhoons, and hurricanes are striking regions where they previously never reached and are pushing much farther inland. Once considered safe, densely populated areas are now at risk, with each new storm bringing destruction and a threat to human lives.

This is happening because abnormally warm ocean waters provide cyclones with more energy.

The causes of record ocean warming and its consequences for the planet and humanity are explored in the Popular Science Film: “Anthropogenic Factor in the Ocean’s Demise”.