Millions of residents are in their final hours of preparation for Cyclone Alfred as the storm bears down on ‘s east coast.
The tropical cyclone – the first to hit south-east Queensland and northern NSW in half a century – is expected to hit the coast in less than 24 hours.
Gale force winds, heavy rain and life threatening floods have begun to smash the region, forcing four million residents to either evacuate or hunker down.
The ‘slow moving’ but powerful category two system is most likely to cross over the Moreton Bay Islands on Saturday morning before making landfall most likely between Noosa and Beenleigh later that day, the Bureau of Meteorology said.
A warning zone stretching 650km remains in place from Double Island Point in Queensland to Grafton in northern NSW. The zone includes Brisbane, the Gold Coast, Sunshine Coast, Byron Bay and Ballina, but doesn’t include Grafton.
Follow Daily Mail ‘s live coverage of the cyclone’s movements.