The Queensland premier is urging people to take Tropical Cyclone Alfred "seriously", as the destructive weather system makes its way towards land.
"This is a very rare event for South East Queensland but it's not unprecedented. I want you to take it seriously," David Crisafulli said on Tuesday afternoon.
Crisafulli said while the final path of the cyclone is unknown, preparation is key.
"The area of interest has narrowed ... it is now just north of Noosa to just south of the border," he said.
"It is a largely populated area and we are asking Queenslanders to stay on their guard.
"The preparations you put in place will make a world of difference."
Cyclone Alfred to make landfall in the coming days
Tropical Cyclone Alfred is moving slowly about 600km east of Brisbane as a category two system and is forecast to slow further before making a U-turn towards the city.
Rainfall and strong wind gusts are already beginning ahead of Alfred making landfall between the Sunshine Coast and Brisbane on Thursday evening or Friday morning.
It's expected to bring destructive winds of more than 130km/h, which will continue to increase on Thursday and Friday, the Bureau of Meteorology (BoM) said.
Brisbane's ferry services have stopped so the vessels can be moved out of the river ahead of Alfred striking the city.
Large waves have been recorded along the coastline with one swell reaching beyond 7 metres on North Stradbroke Island overnight.
'There's no water in there'
Shoppers outside a Gold Coast supermarket told SBS News on Tuesday that water and pantry staples were in scarce supply at the store.
Nineteen-year-old university student Elliot Noonan is looking after the family home while his mother is away.
He is stocking up supplies and preparing to bunker down with his younger sister.
"There's no water in there [the store], so I've gone with coconut water to replace it," he said.
"I'm honestly not too stressed, a lot of the time things like this blow over."
Ben Bland said his family was going to stay with relatives in Toowoomba to avoid the cyclone.
"We don't want to sit here and get our arses whooped," he said.
"Cyclones are very unpredictable."
James Spittle said he's bought pasta, tinned goods and some beer.
He described the bottled water shortage as reminiscent of COVID-19 scarcity.
"I'm lucky I've got a big filtration system at home so I've got plenty of water," he said.
"Hopefully the cyclone isn't as bad as they're saying."
Crisafulli said regulations have been lifted to allow supermarkets to be resupplied at all hours of the day in 21 local government areas.
More rain expected
The worst of the impacts when Alfred makes landfall will be in its southern flank for areas including Brisbane, the Gold Coast and NSW's Northern Rivers region.
The Northern Rivers and south-eastern parts of Queensland received 40mm of rain overnight, which will only escalate over the coming days.
The BoM is forecasting heavy rainfall of up to 400mm later in the week, leading to widespread, moderate to major flooding in south-east Queensland and NSW.
Flood watches spanning the two states and multiple rivers are current.
The destructive winds are forecast to be prolonged and cause significant damage to properties and trees as Alfred draws closer.
Residents are already preparing for the weather system with 100,000 sandbags collected in the past three days in Brisbane.
Alfred will mark the first cyclone to cross the coast since 1974 when Zoe made landfall at Coolangatta.
It came just weeks after Cyclone Wanda had triggered record Brisbane floods that claimed 16 lives.
There have been some near misses since with Nancy in 1990 and Oma in 2019.
Andrew Gissing, CEO of Natural Hazards Research Australia, said that while cyclones have threatened the south-east in the past, many more people and critical infrastructure would be "in the firing line" when Alfred hits.
"What we have seen since then [1974] particularly at places like the Gold Coast is a significant amount of development on flood plains and along the coast," he told the Australian Associated Press.
"It could be a significant disaster event. We are right to be taking this seriously."
AFL reschedules opening round matches
The Australian Football League (AFL) has rescheduled multiple games this week due to safety concerns amid the uncertainty of Tropical Cyclone Alfred.
Thursday night's season opener between the Brisbane Lions and Geelong Cats in Brisbane, as well as Saturday's Gold Coast Suns vs Essendon match, have been postponed.
The AFL is yet to announce new dates for the fixtures.
AFL CEO Andrew Dillon said in a statement on Tuesday: "The priority is that we do everything we can to ensure the health and safety of everyone in and around any potential cyclone zone or community impacted by the forecast heavy rains and storm surges."
"It is a very uncertain situation that is unfolding, and our thoughts are with everyone in south-east Queensland and northern NSW that may be impacted.
"Ultimately, we hope this weather event doesn't eventuate, but we know everyone needs to prepare accordingly and we don't want our games to be a distraction to those preparations."
