Cyclone Alfred community updates from across the Northern Rivers Update #2
(Picture taken at 9.46 am, Molesworth Street north, opposite Banzai Japanese restaurant)
Last updated at: 8 March 2025, 10:55 AM
Update #2
These reports come from CCR (Community Carers and Responders), Plan C’s network of volunteers who provide on-the-ground updates during emergencies across the Northern Rivers.
If you don't see the name of your location listed below it's because we don't have accurate, up-to-date information about as we write this update. Please let us know on our Plan C - Our Plan is the Community Facebook group if you would like to add information about your location for our next update.
And as today is Women's International Day, let's acknowledge the absolutely awesome work done by women and girls all around within our communities and households. And as we often comment, mums are the glue that make community resilience hold together. We see you and are oh so grateful!
Alstonville
Not as much wind, not raining at the moment.
Got power
Got water.
Ballina
Little wind or rain. River calm.
We have power (but don’t know if it’s the area or my battery because my app won’t work without my house wireless system which is out).
Telecoms are still working.
No power still and no access due to trees down.
Bangalow
Has been without power for 2 days, Possum Creek also
Telstra connection very patchy
Bangalow General Store open on generator
Possum Creek roads open to Bangalow but with caution
Bexhill
Flooding in both directions.
Blue Knob
Power out.
Phone reception patchy
Rain light/moderate.
Wind light
Power lines across roads (intersection Blue Knob Road/Noble Road)
Brunswick Heads
Strong winds, very little rain yet today but looks like it is about to start.
Roads in and around town are clear with leaf litter and debris but no water on roads.
Old Maids cafe, health food shop & bakery are opened and very busy. The IGA is shut.
Burringbar
Burringbar doing well. Minor flooding so far. 80ml overnight.
No phones, power, internet. Starlink at the store is still available for people to use.
Store still open running on a generator.
People communicating locally on cb radios.
People in the evacuation centre here are doing ok.
Byrrill Creek
No power still and no access due to trees down.
Byron Bay
Power is still out in Mahogany Drive area of Byron Bay, not sure re other areas in Byron CBD.
Power is on in Sunrise area.
IGA open in Sunrise.
Byron Service Station open opposite the police station. No ice yet.
Road not flooding between byron and sunrise (at the Kendall st turn off) at the moment.
Clunes
No power in Clunes but the shop is still open until 4.
Petrol station was open yesterday. Not sure about today.
Some wind and rain but nothing too concerning.
Coopers Shoot
Not very different to yesterday
Moderate wind and rain here overnight
Still no power and sporadic and tiny amounts of text/WhatsApp messaging only.
Coorabell
No power
Telstra poor/intermittent.
Patchy showers and drizzle, light winds with occasional gusts.
Coorabell Hall has Starkink via battery.
Trees down being cleared
Coraki
Windy with scattered rain
Still have power
River currently behaving
Coraki Road from Lismore has water over the road at turn off and Ruthven Bridge (rainfall) but isn’t listed on live traffic site. Some say that Ruthven Bridge is passable by 4wd however, water has still been coming up there this morning and while it may be passable for experienced 4WDrivers it is dangerous. We urge you not to drive through flood waters.
Dunoon
Power back on to most, mobile very patchy
“We just measured 102mm since yesterday morning in our rain gauge in Dunoon”
Durrumbul
NBN and electricity out
Phone reception down
Clear roads to Mullumbimby
Evans Head
Moderate wind, rain increasing
Ok power & comms
Evacuation starting for Woodburn with EARN (Evans Area Resilience Network) volunteers helping where they can.
Ewingsdale
Rain and wind lessened.. still some strong gusts
Some with power some without
Most without internet
Federal
Mega windy and rain
No power for 2 days
Between Federal & Bangalow: No power (day 2) so no internet or running water. No Telstra phone signal or data since yesterday. Light breeze blowing from the east (very unusual; storms always come from our southwest). Small branches down. Large trees down yesterday but cleared from blocking access to road and blocking road.
Goonellabah
Moderate winds and no rain at the moment
Power has returned, mobile phone and home internet functioning
Some trees and branches down, but roads are drivable
Woolworths, Coles and attendant stores are closed (unconfirmed report that they will be closed for the whole day)
EG petrol station next to Woolworths is open, Shell petrol station on Ballina road next to the Tavern is closed
Army prepositioned in Goonellabah around GSAC and the shopping centre.
(Picture taken at 8.52 am, Gordon Blair Dr, Goonellabah)
Kyogle
Minor flooding - service stations are under.
Water has been going down for now.
Have power
Not much wind and light showers
Upper catchment areas of Eden Creek and Roseberry creek got smashed with reports of houses being flooded for the first time
Iron Pot has bridge entry damage along with Roseberry Creek
Lynches creek reported high levels with Collins creek and Fawcetts plains moderate
Kyogle was braced for high level flooding, but it peaked before sunrise Saturday with houses in the flats experience minor flooding.
Flood levels are dropping fast with many surrounding roads in and out still cut.
Although we have trees down we didn't experience the expected winds.
Lismore
River at 8.86m and steady, hasn’t gone over the levee yet
Waiting to see what happens as the water comes down from the catchments
Little to no wind and rain
The Wilson River hasn't breached the levee but parts of the CBD are under water (such as the northern end of Molesworth street opposite Banzai restaurant and behind the Winsome Hotel, as well as around the Oval)
All shops I saw in the CBD closed, the Square shopping centre is also closed.
East Lismore: still have power, wind has dropped
(Picture taken at 9.35 am, Ballina Street bridge, Lismore)
(Picture taken at 9.42 am, Uralba Street, Lismore)
(Picture taken at 9.46 am, Molesworth Street north)
Lismore Heights
No rain, moderate wind
Power back on, and phones working
Lots of water can be seen from our window - Lismore Turf Club looks like it’s sitting in a lake.
Main Arm Valley
Trees and branches down (extensive)
Power out
Causeways well over
Starlink and UHf networks operating
Main Arm Store operating
Light rain, light winds
Aerial assets (drone surveillance) is useful at these times and we will deploy where possible
Many branches and some trees down, and strong flowing water across causeways preventing movement around the valley
Main Arm of the Brunswick Rivers is rushing fast but has not jumped its banks, it's nothing like 2022.
McLean Ridge
Moderate winds, 60mm rain overnight but not raining now.
Power out for most but others including me, have power.
Minyon
No power, no Optus, limited Telstra
Roads being cleared
Everyone ok awaiting further reports at 10am
Mullumbimby
All good enough in central Mullum at the moment.
Power and Telstra on.
ADF have been door knocking advising evacuations. But we can only get as far as the evac centre, so people are staying put.
Moderate winds and rain but quite calm currently
Parts of Mullum have been ordered to evacuate
Some have power some don’t. Some have comms and some don’t (Telstra was done for a period of time).
The river level around the Showgrounds area is ok for now
No proper flooding yet, strong gusts of wind at times
Army has arrived in town
Tallowood: Some big gusts of wind overnight and this morning. Otherwise light rain and power on.
Murwillumbah
Power back on 10kms from main centre
Light rain for last 1.5 hours
Myocum
About 50mm rain overnight, light drizzle now, strong gusts of wind
McAuleys lane, lots of branches over the road and broken bits of tree hanging over.
Power and internet working, phone as bad as usual.
Mevlana: Electricity is still out, trees are down but residents will clear them later today.
Myocum Downs: No power for a few days now.
Nimbin
We are on emergency power to our Mobile Towers for a few short hours this morning.
Many access roads are still flooded in/out.
We have all lost power.
Pottsville
Pottsville seems to be ok. Winds dropping.
SES now out clearing trees.
No reports of flooding from local CRT
Skennars Head Coast
Power on
High winds
Heavy rain
Stay away from beaches
Not really safe to drive or even walk outside still
South Golden Beach/New Brighton/Ocean Shores
Apparently all well at present
Creeks are high and tides will obviously impact
Awaiting tail whip impacts and flow downs from upstream and expect winds and possible more vulnerable tree impact
Ocean Shores near Country Club /New Brighton: Wild winds, flying debris. No major flooding of Marshall Creek yet. Ocean has not breached dunes. A few trees down that local residents are clearing quickly. Power out in New Brighton and most of Ocean Shores. OS shopping centre and local shops are closed till further notice.
Suffolk Park
Beachside Suffolk Park still without power due to a tree down over the powerlines. Beachside locals are being told it could be several days until power is restored.
Power is on in Baywood Chase and Byron Hills side. Lots of leaf debris, a few trees down, but mostly it is quiet.
Shell servo still closed, all Suffolk Park shops still closed. Baz & Shaz is still closed at present.
No rain currently, a bit windy with strong gusts, but not as strong as the night before last.
Uki
River is behaving.
Moderate rain and wind overnight.
Power and phone patchy/ mostly out.
Evac centre has 2 guests.
Radio checks are going well.
Many, many trees down including over Byrill Creek bridge.
Not all road closures are logged on live traffic.
Wanganui / Huonbrook
Trees down on roads and lines
Coopers Creek causeways flooded
Power out
Internet out
Our Starlink operational with periodic generator (fuel limited)
King parrots and some other birds survived the wild windy night
Woodburn
There is an evacuation order for Woodburn - everyone told to be out by 12 midday today.
Do you have an update or correction for your area?
Please send it through on our Plan C - Our Plan is the Community Facebook group sowe can keep the community informed!
Useful links to check on a regular basis:
NSW SES Warnings & Emergency Updates: www.ses.nsw.gov.au/warnings
BOM NSW Warnings Summary: www.bom.gov.au/nsw/warnings
Install the Hazards Near Me App: www.nsw.gov.au/emergency/hazards-near-me-app
Local Council Emergency Dashboards:
Ballina: emergency.ballina.nsw.gov.au
Byron: emergency.byron.nsw.gov.au
Clarence Valley: emergency.clarence.nsw.gov.au
Kyogle: kyogle.disasterdashboards.com
Lismore: disaster.lismore.nsw.gov.au
Richmond Valley: richmondvalleycouncil.disasterdashboards.com
Live Traffic NSW (road closures & conditions): www.livetraffic.com
NSW Power Outage Tracker: www.energynetworks.com.au/power-outages
Resilient Lismore Hub: www.resilientlismore.org.au
Help in a crisis
If you require immediate 24/7 help, contact:
Aboriginal & Torres Strait Islander Crisis Supporters 13YARN (13 9276)
Mental Health Line 1800 011 511
Beyond Blue 1300 22 4636
Lifeline 13 11 14
MensLine 1300 78 99 78
Lifeline Text 0477 13 11 14
Kids Helpline 1800 551 800
Suicide Call Back Service 1300 659 467
In an emergency, please call 000 or go to your nearest hospital emergency department.
Call North Coast Health Connect on 1800 198 888 for free, 24/7 access to registered nurses who can answer your questions.
They can also connect you to a bulk-billed GP (virtual or in-person) or a pharmacist if needed.
https://northcoasthealthconnect.org.au/
Call or web chat
Available 24/7
Confidential
Connect with a GP or pharmacist if needed
We understand that some healthcare services may currently be unavailable. If you're a NSW North Coast community member and need to speak with someone, please reach out to this service.
If somebody is having a mental health crisis the first step is to provide immediate telephone support through Mental Health Hotline https://www.health.nsw.gov.au/mentalhealth/Pages/mental-health-line.aspx
Please stay informed and safe. And take a few moments to pause and ground yourself.
