Alfred is forecast to make landfall near Brisbane, the capital of Queensland and Australia’s third largest city.

Residents are stacking sandbags to protect low-lying properties ahead of a tropical cyclone that is forecast to become the first in 51 years to hit the Australian east coast near Brisbane, the nation’s third-most populous city.

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.

Australia braced for a rare east coast tropical cyclone that is swirling towards Brisbane, its third-most populous city, with authorities urging residents in flood-prone suburbs to evacuate soon.

But while authorities have been warning residents to stay indoors as Cyclone Alfred approaches, die-hard surfers have been throwing caution to the increasing wind. "This is what we look forward to," said Jeff Weatherall as he waited for a jet ski to pick him up from Kirra beach and carry him into the big waves.

From Byron Bay to Brisbane and beyond, the effects of Tropical Cyclone Alfred are being felt on Friday morning.

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