Just another day at the beach turned out to be anything but at Surfers Paradise Beach in Queensland, Australia.
Late Saturday, Tropical Cyclone Alfred made landfall near Brisbane, Australia. Fortunately, the storm had weakened enough to no longer be considered, or officially called, a cyclone—but you wouldn’t know it from the destruction it caused.
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Gold Coast, a major tourist destination known for its surfing beaches and located about 40 miles south of Brisbane, was one of the hardest-hit areas, as evidenced by social media.
In a now-viral post, TikToker Miss OA shared footage of the state of the city’s famed Surfers Beach, where the storm (which was still not over at the time of her posting) had ravaged the once-glorious coastline.
The video was accompanied by a simple caption: “Our paradise is damaged.”
A second video captioned “Cyclone Alfred update” captured more of the ongoing damage.
The damage went beyond the beachfront. According to Gold Coast Bulletin, several local landmarks—including a notable dome that sat atop Surfers Paradise’s Moroccan building—also fell victim to the storm’s powerful winds.
As of Sunday, The Independent reported that approximately 316,540 homes in Queensland were without power as a result of the storm.
“The storm’s ferocious winds and torrential rains uprooted trees and damaged power lines, complicating restoration efforts,” wrote The Independent’s Stuti Mishra. “Energy distributor Energex said their crews were working tirelessly to restore power, but extensive damage means some areas might not see their power resumed for some days.”
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