The Daily Examiner.
Millions of Australians across south-east Queensland and northern NSW are bracing for tropical Cyclone Alfred to make landfall in the next two days.
More than 4 million people from Sandy Cape to Grafton have been warned the storm is expected to strike on Friday, bringing intense rainfall, dangerous winds, and the potential for flash flooding.
At 1am on Thursday, Alfred was 325 kilometres east of Brisbane and heading east at 7km/h.
Cyclone Alfred is predicted to make landfall some time on Friday, a later crossing than the Thursday night or Friday morning timetable the Bureau of Meteorology had earlier forecast.
Residents living between the Sunshine and Gold coasts, particularly Brisbane, are forecast to be in the firing line.
Alfred slowed on Wednesday night to 7km/h, altering predictions for both its time of arrival and impact on the coast.
Damaging wind gusts up to 120km/h are expected to begin lashing the south-east Queensland and north-eastern NSW coasts throughout Thursday.
Destructive wind gusts of up to 155km/h are expected to hit the coast and islands south of the cyclone’s path by late Thursday or early Friday and extend further inland on Friday.
In the ocean, swells larger than seven metres have already been recorded.
Heavy rainfall is expected after the cyclone crosses the coast and deteriorates into a tropical low, with possible daily totals of 200 to 400 millimetres, which could cause flash-flooding.
