Cyclone Alfred stalled off Australia's east coast on Thursday delaying landfall as officials shut airports, schools and public transport and residents stockpiled supplies and sandbagged homes against floodwaters expected when the category-two storm hits.

Schools are closed, public transport has stopped and desperate householders are getting around shortages of sandbags by buying sacks of potting mix as a region of eastern Australia is lashed by wind a

Early wind and rain from a rare tropical cyclone began lashing parts of eastern Australia on Thursday. Tropical Cyclone Alfred is forecast to cross the Queensland state coast somewhere between the Sunshine Coast region and the city of Gold Coast to the south early on Saturday,