A man has disappeared in floodwater, people were ordered to evacuate homes as part of the Australian east coast was lashed by wind and rain ahead of its first tropical cyclone in 51 years.

Damaging winds and torrential rains from Alfred continue to wreak havoc across Australia’s Queensland region. Gusts and torrential rain have caused widespread power outages and triggered flash floods in parts of Australia’s east coast, with one person killed and a dozen soldiers wounded.

Millions of residents along Australia’s eastern coast are bracing for the arrival of a very slow-moving storm, the most southerly tropical cyclone to threaten the region in more than 50 years.