Watch: Cyclone Alfred nears Australia’s central east coast as NSW residents told to evacuate

Watch as Cyclone Alfred headed towards Australia’s central east coast, bringing torrential rain, destructive winds, and storm surges.

The tropical cyclone is now forecast to make landfall early on Saturday (8 March), after its progress towards the coast dramatically slowed. Alfred was 240km east of Brisbane and moving west at just 7kmph on Thursday, with sustained winds near the centre gusting to 130kmph.

Forecaster Thomas Hinterdorfer from Higgins Storm Chasing said earlier that the storm slowing down would be the “worst case scenario”, as it means a longer period of very heavy rainfall while the cyclone straddles the coast.

Strong winds have already cut power to thousands of homes, and Brisbane Airport has been closed, with hundreds of flights now suspended. The State Emergency Service has ordered evacuations in Lismore and other parts of northern New South Wales by 9pm.

The federal government had delivered 310,000 sandbags to Brisbane and more were on the way, prime minister Anthony Albanese said.

“My message to people, whether they be in southeast Queensland or northern New South Wales, is we are there to support you. We have your back,” he told reporters in the national capital Canberra.