Four rushed to hospital after poisoning, Woolworths stores remaining shut for now

LIVE COVERAGE IS OVER64 updates

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  Fri 7 March 2025 at 9:07 pm GMT-7

  Generator warning after four hospitalised

  Four people have been hospitalised with carbon monoxide poisoning, Acting Gold Coast Mayor Donna Gates has just revealed as she addresses media.

  “It seems they were using a personal generator inside and so my message to everyone is, if you have a generator, it needs to be appropriately ventilated and preferably outside,” she said.

  Gates said their conditions were not serious.

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  Fri 7 March 2025 at 8:59 pm GMT-7

  Police still searching for man swept away off bridge

  Police say they are doing what they can to find a man still missing in NSW’s north after he was swept away on a bridge near Dorrigo after escaping his 4WD.

  NSW Police had earlier said it had to halt certain parts of its search due to the challenging conditions, but clarified it was doing what it could to help locate the man, including utilising the knowledge of local crews.

  “We are dealing with an evolving, dynamic weather event which presents unique search and rescue challenges,” Detective Chief Inspector Guy Flaherty said.

  “We will only be looking at where we can safely put our SES and police into those areas.”

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  Fri 7 March 2025 at 8:32 pm GMT-7

  Woolworths’ Queensland stores remain closed

  Woolworths earlier issued an update revealing all their Queensland stores in impacted areas remain closed until further notice.

  Staffer Emily from Brisbane’s Keperra store addressed customers saying the supermarket giant is prioritising the safety of staff and shoppers when it comes to decisions on reopening. Prime Minister Anthony Albanese had earlier said the federal government was working with major supermarkets to get them safely open.

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  Fri 7 March 2025 at 8:25 pm GMT-7

  Map reveals flooding threat

  This map from the Bureau of Meteorology gives you a good indication of which areas in southeast Queensland and northern NSW are most at risk from flooding as Ex-Tropical Cyclone Alfred continues to bring heavy rain to vast regions.

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  Fri 7 March 2025 at 7:49 pm GMT-7

  About 340,000 people now without power

  The number of people without power keeps on rising, with the figure in Queensland alone edging towards 300,000 while more than 40,000 in NSW have been cut off.

  Those residents have been warned that it could be at least a week before power is reinstalled.

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  Fri 7 March 2025 at 7:43 pm GMT-7

  Brisbane CBD remains empty

  While thunderstorms and heavy rain is still forecast for Brisbane, there’s a sense of relief in the city after islands off the coast weakened Cyclone Alfred, resulting in the system being downgraded to a tropical low.

  However residents are still heeding the warnings of authorities and the city remains eerily quiet. The system is set to make landfall north of the city very shortly.

  

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  Fri 7 March 2025 at 7:18 pm GMT-7

  Lismore bracing for more devastation

  Sticking with NSW, there are growing concerns among residents in Lismore, with fears heavy rain could once again bring devastating flooding to the area.

  The latest official data indicates the Wilsons River at Lismore was at 9.04m and still rising on Saturday morning, gaining quickly on the levee protecting the town, which stands at 10.7m.

  Premier Chris Minns has vowed to support the community in the wake of Ex-Tropical Cyclone Alfred, however it is of little comfort to families who say they’ve “put everything into rebuilding our lives” in the past couple of years.

  Read more about the fears of Lismore residents here. Local resident Magnus Dean has shared a bunch of photos from the town showing just how much flooding has already occurred and you can see those below.

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  Fri 7 March 2025 at 6:48 pm GMT-7

  Premier urges thousands not to ‘trivialise’ Ex-Tropical Cyclone Alfred

  NSW Premier Chris Minns says that 29 flood rescues made by the SES in the Northern Rivers, warning residents to not “trivialise” the weather system after it was downgraded to a tropical low.

  “It really doesn’t matter to us whether it has been downgraded from a tropical cyclone. The effect on the Northern Rivers communities and lower down into the Coffs Harbour area is still the same for thousands and thousands of families,” he said at his latest press conference.

  Reflecting on the 2022 floods, Minns said he wanted to ensure recovery efforts to impending flooding across the region, particularly around the Wilsons River, was far more reactive than three years ago.

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  Fri 7 March 2025 at 6:35 pm GMT-7

  Alfred moving slowly ‘increases the risk’

  There’s been a lot of talk about how slowly Ex-Tropical Cyclone Alfred has been moving and it did in fact stall earlier. The Bureau of Meteorology did confirm just now to the ABC news channel it has begun to move now towards the coast, warning its low speed will mean a greater chance of life-threatening conditions as a result of rain.

  “That does increase the risk of heavy rainfall over one spot with that system moving so slowly,” Christine Johnson said.

  Those heavy rains are expected into tomorrow where some areas could endure 300mm totals across a 24-hour period.

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  Fri 7 March 2025 at 6:12 pm GMT-7

  Tropical low moves north before landfall

  OK, let’s take a look at the movement of Ex-Tropical Cyclone Alfred. The tropical low has now stalled after moving along the coast, sitting off the coast south of Maroochydore and its estimated landfall looks to be around 1pm (AEST).

  The Bureau of Meteorology issued the below tracking map roughly half an hour ago.

  

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  Fri 7 March 2025 at 5:50 pm GMT-7

  Search for man swept away suspended as conditions worsen

  The search for a man swept away in floodwaters near NSW’s Dorrigo has been suspended as conditions worsen for crews.

  The 61-year-old man was trying to cross Wild Cattle Creek Bridge in his 4WD when he was swept away shortly before 3pm yesterday. He had attempted to tie himself to a tree after escaping his vehicle.

  Dorrigo has been one of the worst hit areas in terms of rain, copping 264mm in the past 24 hours.

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  Fri 7 March 2025 at 5:47 pm GMT-7

  Coles starts to reopen stores

  We’ve heard from Coles now who say they are looking to reopen stores as soon as it’s safe to do so.

  Stores in Toowoomba have reopened while the supermarket giant is now assessing when its possible to reopen others in impacted areas.

  “We want to thank the community for their ongoing patience as our team work hard to assess our stores and reopen our doors. We are continuing to work closely with government, local authorities and emergency services to ensure we can reopen as soon as it is safe to do so,” a spokesperson said.

  “We will continue to update our website as our stores reopen for the community, and want to reassure the community that our team are working hard to restock our shelves.”

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  Fri 7 March 2025 at 5:44 pm GMT-7

  Giant golf ball toppled

  The iconic, giant golf ball along the Gold Coast Highway at Mermaid Beach that many drivers will be familiar with has fallen victim to the strong winds overnight.

  

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  Fri 7 March 2025 at 5:10 pm GMT-7

  Beaches will take ‘years’ to recover

  

  Shocking photos have emerged showing just how ferocious the swells have been along the coast — with huge waves washing sand away and leaving escarpments as steep as six metres.

  University of the Sunshine Coast’s Dr Javier Leon told Yahoo an unfortunate consequence of the wild conditions is that the dunes that line the beaches and play a vital role in the environment could take “years” to recover.

  Acting Gold Coast Mayor Donna Gates echoed this, telling the ABC the city will be “really anxious to see our beaches recover”.

  Read more here.

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  Fri 7 March 2025 at 5:06 pm GMT-7

  Areas behind beaches not safe

  Acting Gold Coast Mayor Donna Gates was very critical of beachgoers yesterday and she’s just spoken to the ABC.

  She says beaches remains off limits as do the areas behind them.

  “Don’t go looking at the waves, don’t go near the sand, and certainly don’t take a selfie on the beachside platforms because they have been undermined. Some of them have no foundations and yet they look as if they may be OK to walk on,” Gates said.

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  Fri 7 March 2025 at 4:41 pm GMT-7

  Sparking power lines prompt warning

  Firies in NSW’s Banora Point close to the Queensland border have shared this scary video showing downed power lines sending sparks out onto the road

  Crews are reminding people to remain indoors with such dangers present.

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  Fri 7 March 2025 at 4:13 pm GMT-7

  1,000 power lines down

  Energex says 1,00 power lines are down in Queensland, with residents being told to be “very careful”, particularly if those lines have fallen into front yards.

  The SES advises for residents to not go within eight metres of fallen power lines.

  Remarkably these lines have managed to stay up despite a tree collapsing on them in Brisbane’s Norman Park.

  

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  Fri 7 March 2025 at 4:03 pm GMT-7

  Drone warning to anyone looking to record damage from above

  The SES in NSW is stressing locals should not be flying drones during Ex-Tropical Cyclone Alfred.

  “You must not fly your drone during emergency operations. Flying your drone near emergencies can cause safety hazards to response teams in the air and on the ground,” the Tweed Heads division warned.

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  Fri 7 March 2025 at 3:54 pm GMT-7

  PM says ‘worse to come’

  OK, lets bring you more from the prime minister now.

  Anthony Albanese has urged impacted communities to remain indoors, saying “there is worse to come in the hours ahead”.

  “We must remain vigilant. This is a very serious weather event. Please do not go outside,” he said in an update just then.

  “It is important that people do not take this downgrading [to a tropical low] as a reason for complacency. Its impact will be serious.”

  

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  Fri 7 March 2025 at 3:40 pm GMT-7

  Word of warning about cyclone downgrade

  While the threat of destructive cyclone winds has passed, the Bureau of Meteorology is stressing thunderstorms predicted today could still bring damaging winds.

  The Bureau’s Christine Johnson said storms developing this afternoon could bring winds as high as 120km/h.