Tropical Cyclone Alfred is forecast to hit major city Brisbane and the popular Gold Coast tourist strip over the next 24-48 hours with dozens of flights cancelled and schools closed. Alfred is expected to make landfall in southeast Queensland as a Category 2 storm, marking the first time a cyclone has directly hit the region in over 50 years. The storm is forecast to bring damaging winds, heavy rainfall, and potential storm surges, prompting authorities to urge residents to prepare for significant impacts, including flooding and power outages. It was over the Pacific Ocean 250 miles east of Brisbane and tracking west on Wednesday with sustained winds near the centre of 59mph and gusts of up to 81mph.

A rare tropical cyclone is approaching the east coast of Australia, as forecasters say residents need to prepare for "destructive" wind gusts.

Thousands have already fled their homes as Cyclone Alfred bears down on Australia's east coast. The cyclone intensified into a category two system as it changed course and headed towards the southeast Queensland coast. Last recorded 510km east of Brisbane late Tuesday, Alfred is set to make landfall north of the city either late Thursday or early Friday, bringing destructive winds of up to 130km/h, torrential rain, dangerous surf conditions and major flooding. Authorities have urged millions in two states between Noosa Heads on Queensland's Sunshine Coast and Ballina in northern NSW to prepare to evacuate or hunker down. Voluntary evacuations began on Stradbroke Island on Tuesday as police door-knocked hundreds of homes in low lying areas between the Gold Coast and Sunshine Coast. Southeast Queensland is hours away from coming to an abrupt standstill with schools, university campuses, Gold Coast theme parks, offices and public transport systems all set to shut down on Thursday. The Brisbane CBD will become a ghost town for the first time since Covid-19 lockdowns with residents ordered to work from home. Almost 20,000 homes in the Brisbane Council catchment area will be flooded if Alfred continues on its projected path, according to the latest modelling. The suburbs of Brighton, Windsor, Ashgrove, Morningside, Rocklea, Coopers Plains, Carina, Sandgate, Hemmant, Lota, Tingalpa, Indooroopilly, Albion, Bardon and Wynnum West are most at risk.