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.

Torrential rain from the remnants of Cyclone Alfred flooded swathes of Australia's east coast on Monday, as workers battled to restore power to more than 190,000 homes and businesses.

Hundreds of thousands of people in Australia's Queensland state are without power after Alfred, a downgraded tropical cyclone, brought damaging winds and heavy rains, sparking flood warnings. Some 316,