Australia braced for a rare east coast tropical cyclone, as storm warnings stretched for more than 311 miles across the states of Queensland and New South Wales on Wednesday (March 5) and video captured strong waves crashing onto beaches.

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. Tropical Cyclone Alfred is expected to make landfall late Friday or early Saturday with the strength of a category 1 Atlantic hurricane,