Sydney - Saba:
More than 80,000 homes were without power in Australia on Friday as Tropical Cyclone Alfred approached the country's east coast with destructive winds.
The Australian Bureau of Meteorology estimates that the cyclone, the first to hit the region since 1974, will hit the Australian coast on Saturday.
More than four million people live in the path of the cyclone, along a densely populated 300-kilometre coastal strip on the border between Queensland and New South Wales.
Electricity was cut off to 80,000 homes across the two states on Friday morning, while the destructive winds swept away trees that fell on electricity poles, according to authorities.
The New South Wales Ambulance Service said that 10,000 residents of flood-prone areas had been evacuated.
The town of Lismore, which was hit by record flooding of 14 metres after heavy rains in 2022, is also a concern for authorities.
Over the past three days, many Australians have barricaded themselves in areas at risk, blocking their homes with sandbags and stocking up on food and water.
The cyclone is likely to hit the coast on Saturday, the Australian Bureau of Meteorology said, but it is becoming more difficult to track as it approaches.
The agency said heavy rain, damaging winds and strong waves will hit the coast as the cyclone approaches.
More than 900 schools in Queensland and neighbouring northern New South Wales were closed on Friday, education officials said.
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