Millions of residents along Australia’s eastern coast are preparing for the impact of the most southerly cyclone to threaten the region in more than five decades. Tropical Cyclone Alfred, with strength the equivalent of a category 1 Atlantic hurricane,

Cyclone Alfred is set to bring severe flooding to Australia when it makes landfall near Brisbane.

Residents are stacking sandbags to protect low-lying properties ahead of a tropical cyclone that is forecast to become the first in 51 years to hit the Australian east coast near Brisbane, the nation’s third-most populous city.