General News
5 March, 2025
The thin line between a blessing and a curse
Tropical Cyclone Alfred is predicted to be bringing lots of rain to the dry Clifton district over the coming days, which would greatly benefit from some rain - but not too much.
It appears being located 150 kilometres inland will not be far enough away to be safe from the effectsofthe cyclone, which at this stage is most likely to cross the coast near Brisbane late early on Friday morning and continue westward.
Winds already began to pick up earlier this week and worryingly for farmers and other residents, are expected to only get stronger.
Following a wet end to 2024, conditions over the past few weeks have been becoming drier.
Clifton Post Office recorded a January rainfall total of 47.4mm from five days of rain, well below the historic mean and median of 86.1 and 79.2 respectively.
February’s rainfall was even lower, recording 21mm from three days, compared to the historic mean of 80.6mm and median of 64.7mm.
In total, the first two months of 2025 have seen just 68.4mm of rain.
Ahead of Tropical Cyclone (TC) Alfred making landfall, Toowoomba Region Mayor Geoff McDonald said residents should take precautions.
“I have been in various briefings with the Queensland State Government and fellow SEQ Mayors during the past few days and our Toowoomba Local Disaster Management Group is well prepared should the need arise to move to a lean forward or stand-up phase,” Mayor McDonald said.
“For us in the Toowoomba Region, while we certainly won’t have the coastal impacts from TC Alfred, residents should be prepared for the potential of significant rainfall and windy conditions from Friday of this week and into the weekend as the system potentially tracks further west.
“Residents should take normal precautions such as driving to conditions on our roads, preparing your home for storm-type impacts and having an emergency plan if you live in a location across our region which floods or becomes isolated from flooding should that potentially occur later this week and across the weekend.”
For the latest updates on weather warnings visit bom.gov.au/warnings
Council’s Disaster Dashboard is also available as an important resource for road closures and weather warnings across the region.
Sand stockplies
Toowoomba Regional Council has provided sand stockpiles. The following locations are the closest:
Clifton: 28 Tooth St (behind the Clifton SES HQ)
Cambooya: Lucy St, Lucy St Park (next to tennis courts).
Wyreema: Newman Road, Wyreema (on road reserve between Newman Road and Toowoomba Karara Road).
Pittsworth: Railway St, in front of SES (at Pittsworth Showgrounds).
Toowoomba Showgrounds: Glenvale Road, Glenvale.
Residents will need to bring their own sandbags and shovel. Sandbags are available from hardware stores. If you require assistance with sandbags call the SES on 132 500.
