Australian authorities say a body has been found in floodwaters and 13 military workers injured in a vehicle crash as wild weather from a tropical storm lashes the country’s eastern coast.
Cyclone Alfred, which was downgraded to a tropical low on Saturday, made landfall near the Queensland capital city of Brisbane in the evening local time.
Officials have warned residents to stay indoors and remain vigilant, saying the storm’s threat is “not over”.
Winds have brought down trees and power lines and flooded low-lying roads. More than 300,000 properties are without power in the region.
Police said on Saturday they had discovered a body in the search for a 61-year-old man who went missing on Friday after his car was caught in floodwaters in Dorrigo, northern New South Wales (NSW).
Emergency responders witnessed the man escaping his car and climbing onto a tree near the riverbank, but rescuers were not able to reach him before he was swept away.
Police found a body in the area on Saturday and said it “is believed to be that of the missing man”.
In a separate incident on Saturday, 13 military personnel were injured in a convoy crash in Lismore, about 200km south of Brisbane, according to Federal Defence Personnel Minister Matt Keogh.
One truck overturned while driving on a narrow road. A second truck then collided with it.
The state’s ambulance service had earlier said it treated 36 people in the accident. Keogh clarified to media that while around 36 people were involved, only 13 were injured.
They had been part of military crews deployed to Lismore, near the Queensland border, to help rescue and response operations.
Albanese earlier on Saturday had addressed the nation from the capital Canberra, saying millions of residents were “well-prepared” but “we must remain vigilant.”
Four million people across Queensland and northern New South Wales were bracing for the storm’s landfall with dozens of weather warnings in place across both areas.
Around 287,000 customers are experiencing outages in south east Queensland, according to energy provider Energex, while Essential Energy said more than 42,600 homes and businesses in New South Wales had experienced blackouts.
People in Brisbane, Queensland’s capital, went to bed on Friday bracing for strong winds and heavy rain.
They woke up on Saturday to learn that the cyclone had been downgraded and the city would escape the worst of the weather.
