Tropical Cyclone Alfred is nearing Australia's east coast. It could affect Queensland and New South Wales with strong winds, heavy rain, and flooding. The cyclone may make landfall between the Gold Coast and the Wide Bay region by late Friday or early Saturday.

“If we accumulate those rainfall totals over that three-day period, it is highly likely that we will see isolated areas of 700mm or so. As you can imagine, this is likely to cause riverine flooding through south-east Queensland,” Oates said.