Communities in northern NSW and south-east Queensland remain on alert for heavy rain and flooding
Queenslanders are facing a massive clean up task with more than 260,000 homes and businesses left without power, as residents of south east Queensland and northern New South Wales remain on watch for damaging floods and significant rainfall.
Emergency service workers are also treating more than 36 people injured after two Australian defence force vehicles – which were deployed to help local communities with rising floodwaters – collided on a road near the NSW town of Lismore.
Ex-Tropical Cyclone Alfred was downgraded to a tropical low on Saturday morning but has still caused significant disruption with another 43,000 premises without power in NSW, where 30 rescue operations were launched for people stuck in flood waters.
This included a search for a 61-year-old man swept off a bridge by fast-moving flood waters near Dorrigo in NSW on Friday. Emergency services workers were able to briefly talk with the man as he clung to a tree, before he was washed downstream. Police have confirmed a body was found about 4.30pm.
On Saturday afternoon, the prime minister, Anthony Albanese, said of the 36 defence personnel being treated after the collision some were “seriously injured”. In a joint statement with the defence minister, Richard Marles, he said the “ADF heroes were on their way to help Australians in need.
Earlier in the day, Albanese urged people not to drive through flood waters unless authorised to do so and warned people against becoming complacent after the weather system was downgraded.
“If it’s flooded, forget it,” the prime minister said. “The government, of course, stands ready to activate disaster payments for both south-east Queensland and New South Wales”.
Power was restored to the Gold Coast university hospital late on Saturday afternoon, after relying on generators throughout the day. The federal government has sent six generators to Lismore.
Queensland premier, David Crisafulli, said around half of all traffic lights on the Gold Coast were offline late on Saturday afternoon. He said many supermarkets would reopen on Sunday, when airlines are also hoping to resume flights. Trains will not run in Brisbane on Sunday.
In Queensland, the chief operating officer of Energex, Paul Jordan, said the full restoration of power would take longer than a week. He said his teams were prioritising hospitals and critical infrastructure.
Crisafulli, who described the power outage as the biggest in more than a decade, said aroud 30,000 connections were restored over 90 minutes on Saturday afternoon.
Essential Energy, the NSW-owned electricity infrastructure provider, said debris – including fallen trees and vegetation – would have to be removed before power lines could be assessed and repaired.
The NSW minister for energy, Penny Sharpe, urged people to be “patient” while authorities worked to restore power.
“We cannot risk the lives of those workers,” Sharpe said. “But know that we are doing everything we can, as quickly as we can.”
About 740 people in northern NSW had taken refuge across 21 evacuation centres by 10am on Saturday, with 1,110 people registered to use them. About 20,000 people were subject to evacuation warnings in the region.
Mick Logan, from the NSW Bureau of Meteorology, said flooding was likely in the north of the state from around midday.
There were fears that water could breach the levy in Lismore’s CBD region on Saturday afternoon, but this didn’t happen. Major flooding is still possible in the region with more than 200mm of rain recorded in the Wilson River catchment area over 24 hours.
River catchments from south-east Queensland to the Nambucca Valley in NSW were already full early on Saturday after days of rain.
All emergency warnings in Queensland were downgraded to a “watch and act” level early Saturday afternoon. At the same time, the Gold Coast’s acting mayor, Donna Gates, urged people to stay home, stressing “it’s not over yet”.
The tropical cyclone reached the Moreton Bay islands in the early hours of Saturday, picking up speed but losing some intensity. It was downgraded from a category 2 tropical cyclone to a category 1 at about 1am.
At 6am Alfred was downgraded again by the Bureau of Meteorology. BoM senior meteorologist Christie Johnson said the system was sitting off the coast of Bribie Island, “churning away [and] sending very strong winds across south-east Queensland”.
At a press conference on Saturday morning, Crisafulli said wind gusts of more than 100km/h had been recorded on the Gold Coast.
People living in the region experienced a wild Friday night of strong winds and rain. They were warned to stay indoors for much of Saturday, and that the “prolonged crossing” could mean that severe wind and rain would remain a threat for an extended period.
Matthew Callopy, a senior forecaster at the bureau, said the primary concern was now from heavy rainfall.
“Rainfall totals of over 250mm have already been observed around the Scenic Rim and we’ve seen widespread totals of 100mm to 200mm both on the Gold Coast, but also stretching up into the southern parts of Brisbane,” he said.
Regional airports are expected to resume flights on Sunday morning, pending conditions overnight.
Hundreds of schools will remain closed in northern NSW on Monday, with Queensland authorities expected to give an update on schools on Sunday.
Read more of Guardian Australia’s Tropical Cyclone Alfred coverage: