Heavy rainfall, damaging wind gusts, and coastal surf impact is expected to continue over the coming days, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said.

The former tropical cyclone lay about 65 kilometers off the coast of the Queensland capital, Brisbane, government forecasters said in a final update. Now without gale-force winds, the storm was slowly moving toward the coast and delivering intense rain before it was expected to cross over the mainland later in the day.

Thousands of residents in eastern Australia were ordered to evacuate, as Tropical Cyclone Alfred's heavy rains and powerful winds blast two states ahead of it's expected landfall near Brisbane, the country's third-largest city.