Australia's eastern coast ahead of Tropical Cyclone Alfred

Tropical Cyclone Alfred approaches towards Australia's densely populated eastern coast on Wednesday, sparking emergency warnings, closing hundreds of schools, and threatening to flood thousands of homes.

The Cyclone would strike Friday morning near bustling Brisbane city, forecasters said, the first typhoon to hit the region in more than 50 years. Flooding rains, destructive winds and violent waves were expected to batter a densely populated 300 kilometer stretch of coastline straddling the border of Queensland state and New South Wales. Almost 20,000 homes in Brisbane city alone are at risk of being inundated, according to city council modelling.