Ex-tropical cyclone Alfred LIVE updates: Storm finally makes landfall as strong winds batter Brisbane; major flooding possible for Lismore

Queensland Police have warned offenders will be targeted as emergency services move towards the recovery phase of ex-tropical cyclone Alfred after a man was charged for allegedly attempting to steal a power generator at Caboolture.

About 3pm on Saturday, officers were alerted to a 39-year-old Ningi man tampering and attempting to take the generator powering a set of traffic lights at the intersection of Bribie Island and Torbul Point roads, before he was disturbed and left the scene in a white utility.

Police saw a chain securing the generator had been cut, and as a result power had been lost to the nearby traffic lights.

Police said they found a man in the ute, along with a pair of bolt cutters. The man was charged with attempted stealing and wilful damage and is due to appear in Caboolture Magistrates Court on April 4.

Acting Chief Superintendent Adam Guild said patrols would continue throughout south-east Queensland in the coming days to deter anti-social and criminal behaviour.

“The Queensland Police Service has zero tolerance for stealing, especially during a disaster,” he said. “As we move into the recovery phase, police will continue to target offenders and hold them responsible for their actions.”

The Bureau of Meteorology has downgraded a flood warning for the Wilsons Rivers at Lismore amid falling water levels.

Lismore, which was hard hit by floods in 2022, has been bracing for a repeat due to a deluge of rain as ex-tropical cyclone Alfred approached the coastline.

The bureau on Sunday morning had a major flood warning in place for the Wilsons River at Lismore. But it has since lowered that to a moderate flooding alert.

The river peaked at 9.31 metres on Saturday.

“The Wilsons River at Lismore is likely to remain around the moderate flood level (7.20 metres) during Sunday. The river level may fall below the moderate flood level during Monday,” the bureau said.

Major flood warnings remain in place for the Clarence River at Grafton, the Tweed River at Tumbulgum and the Richmond River at Wiangaree, Kyogle, Casino, Coraki, Bungawalbyn and Woodburn.

The bureau’s Michael Logan said severe weather warnings with potential for flash flooding remained in force for parts of the Northern Rivers, the Dorrigo Ranges and the Northern Tablelands.

“The severe weather warnings are reducing near the coast, so we are seeing some easing of conditions, particularly in parts of the Mid North Coast, and the heavy rainfall is forecast to continue to ease later on Sunday nearer to the coast,” Logan said. “They will also expect to ease in the Northern Tablelands later this afternoon.”

Logan said the inland-moving rainfall had brought flood risks to 11 rivers, with major flooding occurring in the Richmond and Bellinger rivers and the possibility of flooding in the Tweed and Clarence river systems.

He added that moderate flooding had occurred along the Wilsons River at Lismore, which was falling slowly.

“In terms of the outlook for the system later today and overnight, the focus of the rainfall shifts over the Northern Tablelands through to the Northern Inland Region and then extends south-east across central and eastern parts of the state Monday and Tuesday, before easing in the middle of the week,” Logan said.

“As that rainfall does extend further south, it won’t be as heavy as what we’ve seen further north. The situation isn’t over yet, even though it is easing in some parts.”

Woolworths says it will re-open stores in southern Queensland and northern NSW after shutting several of its supermarkets across the region to brace for Alfred’s impact.

“Our thoughts are with those impacted by ex-tropical cyclone Alfred,” a spokesperson said.

“We will re-open the majority of our stores in impacted areas this morning where it’s safe to do so. We have taken a store-by-store approach to reopening based on safe access to stores, continuing weather conditions, any impact to the stores and their operations, team member availability and the advice of local authorities.”

The supermarket chain asked customers to check the latest operating hours for their local store on the Woolworths website, which will be regularly updated.

Energex repair crews are braving the downpour and wild winds in Brisbane today to bring power back online as black-outs hit tens of thousands of homes and businesses.

About 320,000 homes are without electricity across south-east Queensland, with more than 50,000 in the Brisbane City Council area.

The affected suburbs include The Gap, Rochedale, Acacia Ridge, Bald Hills, Carina, Everton Park, Ferny Grove, McDowall, Pallara and Wynnum West.

Strong winds are still bringing down trees and power lines, and now the rain has set in.

“We’ve still got 90km/h gusts, debris flying and we’re also keeping an eye on this rain too because we’re starting to see a little bit of localised flash flooding,” Energex spokesman Danny Donald said.

“It might slow us down slightly, but the crews are out there now and keen. What they’re doing today is continuing to assess the damage and also making wholesale repairs.”

Donald said it was “too early to tell” how many homes would have power restored today, but crews were aiming to reconnect at least 80,000.

You can find a list of outages on the Energex website.

SES Commissioner Mike Wassing said about 14,600 people remained under 36 emergency warnings in NSW.

He said most people were following the warnings but a “small minority” continued to drive through floodwaters.

“In the last 24 hours we have had 917 incidents in total and 17 as a result of cars entering floodwaters,” Wassing said.

“Not only is that a danger to yourself and your family, it is also dangerous for the volunteer and emergency service workers that are doing those rescues.”

Rose Jackson, the NSW minister responsible for the North Coast, said there were encouraging signs despite the ongoing threat of flooding.

Speaking at a press conference alongside the SES and Bureau of Meteorology, Jackson said the NSW government was hopeful the worst impacts of the cyclone had passed.

“We’ve got recovery in the corner of our eye,” she said. “We have seen some rivers slowly starting to have their water level drop. But we just want to make sure that we get through the next day or so keeping everyone safe, keeping our community safe, keeping our emergency services safe.”

NSW Energy Minister Penny Sharpe said residents should not try to return home until they were expressly told they could by emergency services.

“There are safety issues, and it is not just about the level of the water, it is live electricity wires, debris and dangerous areas,” she said.

NSW government ministers Penny Sharpe and Rose Jackson are giving an update on the impact of cyclone Alfred.

They are speaking alongside SES Commissioner Mike Wassing and the Bureau of Meteorology’s Mick Logan.

Watch live here:

As the rain continues to come down in Brisbane, flood-prone parts of the city are starting to go under.

Here are images of Norman Creek in Stones Corner, in Brisbane’s inner south.

“It’s the challenge of rainfall today, and whether or not that leads to flooding. And we’ll keep an eagle eye on that,” Premier David Crisafulli told Nine’s Today earlier this morning.

“People really need to keep their wits about them.”

Redcliffe, on Brisbane’s northern fringe, was hit with wind gusts up to 104km/h last night as Alfred finally made landfall on the mainland, between Brisbane and Maroochydore.

One roof was ripped from this home on the Redcliffe waterfront.

Another ended up hanging over powerlines.