At its peak, Tropical Cyclone Alfred left over 46,000 homes in Logan without power, as the severe weather system wreaked havoc across Southeast Queensland.
The cyclone, which made landfall on 7 March, brought destructive winds exceeding 130 km/h and torrential rainfall, leading to widespread infrastructure damage and flooding.
Energex reported that more than 206,000 properties across the region were affected by power outages, with Logan among the hardest-hit areas.
Suburbs such as Logan Reserve and Park Ridge experienced significant disruptions due to downed power lines and damaged equipment, totalling around 7,000 homes without power.
Energex’s Chief Operating Officer Paul Jordon described the severity of the situation.
“We’ve suffered serious damage to our network on the back of Tropical Cyclone Alfred,” he said.
“But rest assured, we’ve got over a thousand people ready to go, and we’ll be out there as soon as it’s safe to do so, assessing the damage and restoring supply.”
Energex sent out over 1,000 staff members to address the extensive damage, prioritising safety assessments before commencing repair work.
The restoration efforts were hampered by the severity of the cyclone’s impact, with Energex warning that it could take up to two weeks to fully restore power in some areas.
“We ask you to bear with us. We’ve got great support from the Australian Defense Force and local government to be getting into our assets, but it will take a bit of time,” Mr Jordan said.
“So, we’ll be out there as soon as we can and we look forward to getting the power back on as soon as possible.”
The combination of gale-force winds and flooding not only caused immediate outages but also complicated access for repair crews working to assess and fix the network damage.
In response to the crisis, Logan City Council activated evacuation centres to support residents displaced by the storm and subsequent power outages.
Local Division 9 Councillor Scott Bannan provided an update on 8 March, reassuring the community that resources were being deployed.
“Energex are setting up a headquarters in Jimboomba for at least the next 10 days, so they are all over the power dramas and are well equipped,” he said.
As of 10 March, significant progress has been made in restoring power to affected areas, but 26,000 residents in Logan still remain without electricity and it could take a week to restore power to those homes.
