Cyclone Alfred and God's Grace - Universal Spirituality

Cyclone Alfred and God’s Grace

This is a story of how God’s grace saved the Brisbane area from a major devastation by Cyclone Alfred.

On March 3, 2025, we started hearing on the news that Cyclone Alfred, having originated in the Coral Sea up north about 10 days prior, was likely to hit the area of South East Queensland. This was not only unusual as cyclones very seldom come this far south, but also potentially devastating due to the high population density.

The prognosis was quite frightening and getting more so by the day, especially for those of us who had never experienced a cyclone (aka hurricane in the US). It was to hit land as a Category 2 storm with heavy rain and destructive winds capable of taking roofs off houses, break windows, and cause severe flooding. As a result, the Cyclone prompted watches, warnings and evacuation orders in places of South East Queensland and Northern New South Wales, an area which has last seen direct impact from a tropical cyclone 50 years ago.

On Tuesday and Wednesday (March 3-4), coastal areas began to experience large swells and abnormally high tides with wave heights of almost five metres (15 feet), as well as significant beach erosion. A powerful storm surge was feared if the Cyclone crossed land at high tide. River and island ferry services ceased as the week progressed, and the warnings increased.

In its journey toward land, Alfred was becoming more intense and potentially more destructive, with even the possibility of turning into a Category 3 storm. People spent hours lining up for sandbags, and emptying supermarket shelves. Activities were being cancelled and schools were closing from Tuesday with an expected cyclone landfall on Thursday, March 6. Evacuation centres were being opened for those who may need to leave their homes. Public transport, major roads, airports, and stores began to shut down in preparation.

On Thursday, March 6, Cyclone Alfred’s approach toward Brisbane slowed down, delaying landfall predictions by 6 hours, then 12 hours and more. On March 7, gusts of over 100 km/h (62 mph) were recorded at the famous Gold Coast and other coastal regions. Many large trees had fallen because of the strong winds. At the system’s height, about 500,000 residents across Queensland and New South Wales had lost power, often as a result of trees falling on power lines. After several delays, the final landfall was predicted between Friday afternoon and the early hours of Saturday, March 8.

With the continued warnings and increasingly scary forecasts from the news sources, local Council, and the local Member of Parliament, my stress and anxiety grew. The delays made me feel restless. Of course, I was praying for protection and intervention for all of us in the area, but I was still worried. What if our home is damaged – where will we go? What if our windows are broken? What if there is water in the house? Being at a retirement village, and having several large windows and glass doors in the home, boarding them up was not an option. Since this area is not used to cyclones, I was also hoping the home was strong enough to withstand one. And if any of the above happened, and we had to evacuate, what about my ill, bedridden husband, and our cat Whitey?

Even though the Cyclone’s danger and my concerns grew, my prayers were being answered in small ways. On Wednesday, on my morning walk, contemplating how sad it would be to see our beautiful village gardens and landscaping destroyed, I crossed path with Clare from the other side of the village. She said that her son was a builder and, in his estimation, the homes here would survive a cyclone. She also shared how the maintenance staff had taken precautions by sandbagging vulnerable places such as one near her unit. In addition, she mentioned prayer, and I couldn’t agree with her more. All that was reassuring. I felt grateful for believing people here and elsewhere who all were no doubt praying for help and intervention. I kept reminding myself that weather miracles had happened before and so can happen again.

On Thursday, as usual, I joined one of the prayer groups on Zoom. We discussed an inspired message entitled “You Rest in the Grace of God.” It said: “ …. I wish to tell you that many angels are with you tonight, that this little circle has a powerful purpose and brings much light to the world. Do not underestimate your abilities and efforts to beseech God’s blessings, not only to you but to the world. So much can come with a simple prayer. So much is possible when beautiful souls of like mind and whose souls are focused upon service and acting through the Will of God in the world will bring many blessings. You rest in the grace of God, my friends. Know that I too pray with you, walk with you, and am with you to bring greater light, protection, and upliftment to your beautiful souls. God bless you ….”

“Resting in the Grace of God.” Of course! How reassuring. From that day, my prayer focus changed and I felt more at peace. My prayer went along these lines: “While the Cyclone prognosis is getting worse and a slow-moving cyclone means longer duration and potentially more damage, please help us to replace fear with faith and peace, trusting that we’ll be provided for and somehow, there will be some good in this. Help us to rest in your grace, trusting that we’ll not be forsaken because we are your children. May our home remain dry and not sustain any damage, such as broken windows or damaged roof, which would necessitate leaving. May the same be true for all others around the village, and similar places, especially those who are frail and unwell and don’t have a family nearby to go to or get help.”

On Friday, there was still no cyclone and the weather in our area alternated between overcast and showers. For the whole week, it felt like the proverbial calm before the storm – but not everywhere. For us it was hard to believe that a storm was looming around the corner – though many had already experienced its destructive effects before it arrived.

I continued praying: “May the storm downgrade and be less destructive than what has been projected. May all our homes survive undamaged. Please help us to use our time profitably while we wait. One can feel a bit restless and out of sorts, not knowing what is ahead, but please help us to trust in faith and feel your love and peace that we as your children are in your grace and will be helped and protected. Thank you that we have been unaffected so far. May the cyclone not last too long and be too destructive for the whole area.”

The forecast at that time was that the cyclone would arrive late Friday night or early Saturday morning. We fell asleep, wondering what the night would be like. In the morning, we learned that the Cyclone had been downgraded during the night, first to Category 1 and then to a tropical low. It also slightly changed direction and the area of landfall. The weather man explained that we weren’t out of the woods yet, but we wouldn’t experience the previously projected destructive winds. There was however, still a lot of water in the system, so there would be flooding.

No doubt, we all felt a big sense of relief. The whole area could have been devastated had the original cyclone predictions come to pass. Multiple lives could have been lost. A big storm surge was feared that may have inundated homes miles from the coast. Even so, hundreds or thousands lost power, countless trees came down, the coast suffered major erosion, and a few homes were seriously damaged. But with one exception, there was no loss of life. Despite all that, we were all shown incredible mercy. It could have been so much worse.

Header image: Mick Haupt of unsplash.com