The latest storm news from Reuters said that Typhoon Alfred is moving slowly towards the mainland, raising concerns that the storm could cause prolonged heavy rain.
Typhoon Alfred is currently off the southern coast of Australia and northern New South Wales. Winds of more than 100 km/h have occurred in the coastal areas of Queensland and New South Wales since the night of March 6 while the storm is located about 200 km from the coast.
The Australian Bureau of Meteorology said that Alfred is expected to make landfall in northern Brisbane, Australia's third most populous city, as a Category 2 storm. Typhoon Alfred is expected to make landfall on the morning of March 8 instead of the previous forecast on the evening of March 6.
According to Michael Barnes - a researcher at the 21st Century Weather Center ARC of Monash University, Australia, the speed of storm Alfred's movement slows down due to no winds in the surrounding area.
"The storm is located in a very calm environment. Alfred only drifted slowly toward the coast as a very weak wind flow pushed the storm westward, said Barnes.
Hurricane Alfred's approach to land could increase the overall impact on infrastructure and the environment by extending the damage.
"A typical tropical storm will strengthen, make landfall and quickly slide through, meaning people will have between 12 and 24 hours of recording strong winds, heavy rain, rising sea levels and then everything will pass" - he pointed out.
However, a slower-than-normal movement of Typhoon Alfred will lead to rain, wind and sea levels rising due to the storm for longer. The impact period lasts more than 24 hours, possibly 48 hours or more.
Since the morning of March 7, tens of thousands of people in Australia and New South Wales have been without power due to gusts of wind and heavy rain. Hundreds of schools and businesses have also had to close due to severe weather. Reversal
Researcher Michael Barnes pointed out that Red River's slowdown is not more dangerous, but it could put greater pressure on the response to the storm.
Australian authorities say that storm Alfred is a very rare event for Brisbane. The last time the state capital Queensland was hit by a typhoon was more than half a century ago, in 2014. The city, which has a population of about 2.7 million, was also affected by typhoons in 1990 and 2019.
