In Australia, tropical Cyclone Alfred lashed parts of eastern Australia yesterday, with early winds and rain leading to schools being closed, public transport halted, and residents looking for alternatives to sandbags to reduce the impact of flooding. Cyclone Alfred is expected to make landfall tomorrow along the Queensland coast, somewhere between the Sunshine Coast region and the city of Gold Coast. Alfred is expected to become the first cyclone to cross the coast near Brisbane since Cyclone Zoe hit the Gold Coast in 1974 and brought widespread flooding.

Residents in the Northern Rivers region in the northeastern part were urged to evacuate, as rising river levels and heavy rainfall are expected to cause widespread flooding across local catchments. More than 4 million residents of Brisbane, Gold Coast, and Sunshine Coast, among other cities of Queensland and NSW, have been placed on a formal warning by the Bureau of Meteorology.