People on the projected path of Cyclone Alfred have been asked to "act now" and leave before the situation gets worse as an “extremely rare” Category 2 storm barrels towards Australia’s southeastern coast.

Millions of residents along Australia’s eastern coast are preparing for the impact of the most southerly cyclone to threaten the region in more than five decades.

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’