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.
Locals been warned to brace for possible daily rainfall totals of 200 to 400 millimetres, life-threatening flash flooding and wind gusts up to 120km/h.
The cyclone is currently predicted to make landfall between Brisbane and the Sunshine Coast on Thursday night as a category 2 storm.