Alfred is expected to become the first cyclone to cross the coast near Brisbane since Cyclone Zoe hit Gold Coast in 1974 and brought widespread flooding.

Alfred is forecast to make landfall near Brisbane, the capital of Queensland and Australia’s third largest city.

Millions of residents along Australia’s eastern coast are bracing for the arrival of a very slow-moving storm, the strongest tropical cyclone to threaten the region in more than 50 years. Tropical Cyclone Alfred is expected to make landfall late Friday or early Saturday with the strength of a category 1 Atlantic hurricane,