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’

Airports in eastern Australia, including Brisbane and Gold Coast, have been closed due to Cyclone Alfred, a category 2 storm. Air New Zealand suspended operations, and authorities issued evacuation orders and shut down schools and public transport.

Heavy rain will continue to lash a region of the Australian east coast for days, even though it avoided the destructive winds of its first tropical cyclone in 51 years, officials have said. One person was confirmed dead and several others were injured during the bad weather.

A 61-year-old man remains missing after being swept away in a flooded river near the town of Dorrigo in New South Wales, and a woman sustained minor injuries when an apartment building lost its roof in the Queensland border city of Gold Coast on Friday, police said. The woman was one of 21 people who were evacuated from the building.