Supermarkets in southeast Queensland are set to close today after a major change in Cyclone Alfred occurred overnight.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese confirmed residents in the cyclone’s path wouldn’t be able to go to the shops in a few hours’ time.
‘Queensland supermarkets in affected areas will close from today,’ Mr Albanese said.
A video shared on Wednesday night showed dozens of eager customers storming an Aldi store in Brisbane to get last minute supplies.
As soon as the roller door opened, customers sprinted in to get much needed goods, knowing they might have to go 48 hours before the shops opened again.
On the Gold Coast, a large number of Woolworths stores will be closed for Thursday and Friday, while some will trade only until 2pm on Thursday.
Supermarket shelves across southeast Queensland and northern New South Wales have been stripped of bottled water, toilet paper, bread, milk, eggs and other necessities ahead of Alfred’s arrival.
Coles stores will run on fewer staff and the supermarket has closed some stores in southeast Queensland and northern NSW.
A spokesperson said: ‘We have extra deliveries on the roads already, with a focus on boosting our supply of meat, milk, bread, water, canned goods, baby formula and toilet paper.’
‘We have plenty of stock in our supply chain, and so we just ask that customers shop as they normally would and be patient with our hard-working team members as they keep our shelves stocked.’
Aldi supermarkets closed stores in the City of Gold Coast LGA from 5pm on Wednesday until Saturday.
Stores in the NSW Northern Rivers were closed from 8pm on Wednesday until Saturday while branches in Brisbane, Redlands City, Ipswich, Logan, Moreton Bay and Sunshine Coast LGAs will close at 2pm on Thursday until Saturday.
Bunnings will continue to operate, allowing people to stock up on items to protect their homes from wind and rain damage.
However, a spokesperson said some stores may need to close temporarily if it became unsafe to operate, with updates posted to the company’s website.
Bottle shopssuch as Liquorland, Vintage Cellars, Dan Murphy’s and BWS are open in southeast Queensland including Brisbane, but Dan Murphy’s and BWS stores are closed on the Gold Coast.
Chemists will continue to be open while it is safe.
Residents have been told to fill their fuel tanks immediately, with service stations to close from Thursday afternoon as supplies begin to run out.
The Australasian Convenience and Petroleum Marketers Association said fuel deliveries to service stations in southeast Queensland and the NSW Far North Coast would stop from 4pm on Thursday until the cyclone eases.
Millions have bunkered down as the weather system looks set for a direct hit on Brisbane.
Alfred’s path slowed significantly overnight with experts predicting the slowdown was ‘most likely bad news’, and billions of dollars worth of damage is expected.
Cyclone Alfred was about 285km east of Brisbane at 7.46am on Thursday, slowing to 7km/h.
South-east Queensland
• Coles Petrie Terrace, Brisbane
• Coles Loganholme
• Coles Runaway Bay, Gold Coast
• Coles Benowa Village, Gold Coast
• Coles Arundel, Gold Coast
• Coles Pacific Fair, Gold Coast
• Coles The Pines, Gold Coast
• Coles Robina, Gold Coast
Northern New South Wales
• Coles Ballina
• Coles Tweed City
• Coles Casuarina
• Coles Tweed Heads
• Coles Murwillumbah
• Coles Goonellabah
• Coles Banora point
• Coles Ocean shores
Coles at Lismore, Casino and Alstonville are all open today.