At least 15,000 people have been instructed to evacuate, tens of thousands more are without power, and flood rescues are already happening in areas along Australia’s eastern coast in the path of Tropical Cyclone Alfred, which is predicted to be the first to make landfall in the region in decades.

Alfred is expected to hit the shore on Saturday morning near Brisbane, Queensland’s capital and home to around 2.7 million people. As of Friday afternoon, it was roughly 80 miles off the coast and already causing flooding with unusually high tides.

To the south, in the neighboring state of New South Wales, local officials stated that about 29,000 homes are at risk of flooding as of Friday afternoon, with around 15,000 people in the state under evacuation orders. . The authorities reported approximately 38,000 in the state without power and 46,000 in Queensland.

The storm’s slow westward movement, traveling about 5 miles per hour on Friday, could amplify its impact on coastal communities by prolonging rainfall and storm surges, according to officials. Among the threatened areas is Lismore, a small city eight hours north of Sydney that suffered from severe floods in 2022, resulting in 22 fatalities.

On Friday, Alfred was already affecting coastal areas with wind gusts up to 75 miles per hour. Forecasters warned of the danger of life-threatening flash-flooding even before landfall. According to Australia’s Bureau of Meteorology, it will be the first cyclone to come ashore along the southeastern coast of Queensland since 1974.