By Hilary Whiteman

Brisbane, Australia (CNN) — Millions of residents along Australia’s eastern coast are bracing for the arrival of a very slow-moving storm, the strongest tropical cyclone to threaten the region in more than 50 years.

Tropical Cyclone Alfred is expected to make landfall late Friday or early Saturday as a Category 1 cyclone, which is as strong as a tropical storm in the Atlantic Ocean. It’s swirling toward Brisbane, home to 2.5 million people, with heavy rain and wind that started pounding the area late Thursday.

Alfred is threatening a region that doesn’t normally experience cyclones; they typically form much further north, over warmer waters in the tropics. The delay in the storm’s arrival gave officials more time to issue warnings to anxious residents living in properties previously untested by cyclonic winds.

As of early Friday morning, local time, Cyclone Alfred was around 195 kilometers (120 miles) east of Brisbane, moving west with damaging winds around 95 kilometers per hour (59 miles per hour), according to Australia’s Bureau of Meteorology (BOM).

The cyclone has already whipped up hazardous waves along the coast, including one measuring a record 12.3 meters (40 feet) on the Gold Coast, a popular tourist strip south of Brisbane.

The Gold Coast City Council warned of fines of $10,000 (16,000 Australian dollars) for anyone venturing too close to rock walls and rough water after injuries were reported by onlookers.

In northern New South Wales (NSW), around 35,000 homes and businesses were without power by early Friday after “severe winds and heavy rain,” according to the Essential Energy electricity company.

Riverine flooding was also threatening low-lying communities. First responders received more than 1,800 calls and completed at least three flood rescues throughout Thursday and into the night, the NSW State Emergency Service said on social media.

Authorities warned millions of residents in the storm’s path to prepare for destructive wind gusts, flash flooding and storm surges that may combine with high tides.

Flood watches have been issued across the coast, where rainfall of 200 to 400 millimeters (7.8 to 15.7 inches) is expected, and isolated totals nearing 500 millimeters (nearly 20 inches) are possible.

Queensland Premier David Crisafulli warned late Thursday of four key challenges.

“There are waves, there is wind, there is rainfall, and there will be flooding, but none of those challenges are insurmountable, and I have every faith in the work that has been done to date,” he said.

Preparation included shutting schools, suspending public transport and closing shops and other services, leaving many with little else to do but prepare for the storm – or marvel at large swells along the beach.

NSW Premier Chris Minns compared Alfred to a “completely unwanted house guest” – the cyclone will arrive later than expected and stay longer than planned.

“Unfortunately, that means the window for destruction in our community – heavy rains, winds, powerful surf – is longer than we would have otherwise liked,” he said.

Biggest storm in decades

The last cyclone of a similar strength to cross so far south was Cyclone Zoe back in 1974, which caused major flooding in the city and NSW’s Northern Rivers region.

Brisbane’s population has more than doubled since then, but experts say the worst of Cyclone Alfred could be felt south of the storm’s eye, along popular tourist beaches from the Gold Coast to northern NSW.

“We haven’t seen anything quite like this for a good 50 years,” said Darrell Strauss, coastal management researcher at Griffith University.

“There are areas where storm surge is the biggest problem, and then there’s areas where high waves and coastal erosion and inundation from the sea directly due to the waves are a big problem. So, we’ve got a combination of all of that from Brisbane to the Northern Rivers (of NSW),” Strauss said.

Creeks and rivers in northern NSW are expected to burst their banks, threatening more devastation for residents in an area that has endured severe flooding in the past decade.

“We know that after the years of trauma that they’ve experienced, the devastating floods, going back to 2017 and of course, 2022, there is a lot of anxiety and distress in the community,” said Rose Jackson, Minister for the North Coast. “Mental health support is available.”

In Brisbane on Thursday, residents were busy stripping supermarket shelves of food and bottled water. Hundreds of thousands of sandbags were distributed, though it didn’t seem to be enough, with reports that some had resorted to stealing sand from beach volleyball courts.

Modeling showed 20,000 properties across Brisbane could be impacted by storm surge or flash flooding, according to the Lord Mayor’s office.

Beaches in northern NSW and along the Queensland coast were closed, as NSW State Emergency Services (SES) warned of potential storm surges of up to 10 meters (32 feet). It was the state’s first cyclone warning since 1990, the SES said.

This story has been updated with additional information.

CNN Meteorologist Mary Gilbert contributed to this report.

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