BYRON BAY: A rare tropical cyclone veered towards Australia's densely populated eastern coast on Wednesday (Mar 5), sparking emergency warnings, closing hundreds of schools and threatening to flood thousands of homes.
拜伦湾：一场罕见的热带气旋于周三（3 月 5 日）向澳大利亚人口稠密的东海岸逼近，触发了紧急警报，关闭了数百所学校，并威胁淹没成千上万的住宅。

Tropical Cyclone Alfred would strike on Friday morning near bustling Brisbane city, forecasters said, the first typhoon to hit the region in more than 50 years.
热带气旋阿尔弗雷德预计将于周五早上袭击繁忙的布里斯班市，气象人员表示，这是超过 50 年来首次袭击该地区的台风。

Flooding rains, destructive winds and violent waves were expected to batter a densely populated 300km stretch of coastline straddling the border of Queensland state and New South Wales.
预计洪水、毁灭性的风和猛烈的海浪将冲击横跨昆士兰州和新南威尔士州边界的 300 公里密集人口沿海地区。

Almost 20,000 homes in Brisbane city alone are at risk of being inundated, according to city council modelling.
根据市议会的模型，布里斯本市中近 20,000 套住宅面临被淹没的风险。

As thrill-seeking surfers paddled out to catch 5m swells stirred up by the storm, other people were filling sandbags or getting ready to flee to higher ground.
随着寻求刺激的冲浪者划水出海，迎接风暴掀起的 5 米浪潮，其他人则在填沙袋或准备逃往更高的地方。

"We're just making sure that everything is tied down," said Kim Hollow from the Horizons Motel an hour's drive south of Brisbane's business district.
“我们只是确保一切都固定好了，”来自距离布里斯班商业区一个小时车程的地平线旅馆的金·霍洛说。

"The supermarket shelves have been pretty much stripped bare. You can't buy a candle to save yourself," he told AFP.
“超市货架几乎被一扫而空。你连一根蜡烛都买不到，”他对法新社说。

"I must admit my daughter has been on my back a bit. We'll only leave if we're told to evacuate. If it's safe to stay, we'll stay."
"我必须承认，我女儿一直在催促我。只有在被要求撤离时我们才会离开。如果待在这里安全，我们就会继续留在这里。"

"ANGRY OCEAN"  "愤怒的海洋"

Surfers huddled on the banks at Byron Bay to size up the supercharged waves crashing on the shore in clouds of spray.
冲浪者聚集在拜伦湾的岸边，仔细评估着冲击在岸上的强劲浪潮，浪花飞溅。

"Surfers rarely, if ever, get a chance to ride such big waves in Byron Bay," said local Jim Regan.
“冲浪者很少，甚至根本没有机会在拜伦湾乘风破浪，”当地人吉姆·雷根说。

"With the wind and pelting rain and cyclone Alfred swirling offshore, you've really got to be dedicated to paddle into such an angry ocean," he told AFP.
“在狂风暴雨和阿尔弗雷德飓风在海上肆虐的情况下，你真的得非常有决心才能划进如此愤怒的海洋，”他对法新社说。

More than 700 schools across Queensland and the flood-prone northern rivers region of New South Wales will close from Thursday onwards, education department officials said.
昆士兰州和新南威尔士州易受洪水影响的北河地区超过 700 所学校将从周四开始关闭，教育部门官员表示。

Major airlines Qantas and Virgin have cancelled a string of flights, while the Gold Coast's international airport will shut down completely on Wednesday afternoon.
澳大利亚主要航空公司澳洲航空和维珍航空取消了一系列航班，而黄金海岸的国际机场将于周三下午完全关闭。

Australia's Bureau of Meteorology said Tropical Cyclone Alfred was likely to hit land in the early hours of Friday morning.
澳大利亚气象局表示，热带气旋阿尔弗德预计将在周五清晨登陆。

The storm front made "an abrupt U-turn" towards the mainland after earlier forecasts showed it would peter out at sea, the weather bureau said.
气象局表示，风暴前线在早期预报显示它将在海上减弱后，“突然调头”朝向大陆。

It would bring "destructive wind gusts" of up to 155kmh in some places, the bureau added.
气象局补充说，这将带来某些地方高达 155 公里每小时的“破坏性风阵”。

DANGEROUS "STORM TIDE"  危险的“风暴潮”

There was a chance it would make landfall at high tide, said forecasters, creating a "dangerous storm tide" with powerful waves.
气象专家表示，风暴有可能在高潮时登陆，造成“危险的风暴潮”，伴随强劲的海浪。

"We are planning for significant rainfall that will see significant inundation, isolation and potential need for evacuation," said emergency services commissioner Mike Wassing.
“我们正计划应对大雨，这将导致严重淹水、孤立以及可能需要撤离，”紧急服务专员迈克·瓦辛说。

"I want people to act now, relocate now before those circumstances are occurring."
“我希望人们立刻行动，立刻迁移，在那些情况发生之前。”

While cyclones are common in the warm tropical waters lapping Australia's northern flank, it is rarer for them to form in cooler waters further south.
虽然气旋在温暖的热带水域中很常见，尤其是在澳大利亚北部沿海，但在更南部的凉爽水域中形成气旋则较为罕见。

Tropical Cyclone Alfred would be the first to make landfall in that part of Australia since 1974, the Bureau of Meteorology said.
澳大利亚气象局表示，热带气旋阿尔弗德将是自 1974 年以来首次在该地区登陆的气旋。

"This is perhaps an indication that due to global warming, the reach of tropical cyclones is extending further than the tropics, requiring preparedness in areas where cyclones are unprecedented," said Iftekhar Ahmed from the University of Newcastle.
“这可能表明，由于全球变暖，热带气旋的影响范围正在超出热带地区，需要在气旋前所未有的地区做好准备，”纽卡斯尔大学的 Iftekhar Ahmed 说道。

Two season-opening Australian rules football matches - the country's most popular spectator sport - slated for Thursday have been postponed because of the storm.
因风暴影响，定于星期四进行的两场澳大利亚足球联赛赛季揭幕战——该国最受欢迎的观众体育项目——已被推迟。

The Gold Coast Festival of Golf and Australia's largest triathlon have also been called off.
黄金海岸高尔夫节和澳大利亚最大的铁人三项赛也已取消。

Researchers have repeatedly warned that climate change amplifies the risk of natural disasters such as bushfires, floods and cyclones.
研究人员反复警告说，气候变化加剧了自然灾害的风险，例如森林火灾、洪水和气旋。