More than four million people across Brisbane, the Sunshine coast and Gold Coast in Queensland – as well as in northern NSW towns including Byron Bay and Lismore – are planning for Cyclone Alfred.
Locals have been warned to brace for possible daily rainfall totals of 200 to 400 millimetres, life-threatening flash flooding and wind gusts up to 120km/h.
The cyclone is currently predicted to make landfall between Brisbane and the Sunshine Coast on Thursday night as a category 2 storm.