Schools are closed, public transport has stopped and desperate residents are getting around shortages of sandbags by buying sacks of potting mix as a region of eastern Australia is lashed by wind and rain from a rare approaching tropical cyclone.

Tropical Cyclone Alfred weakened into a tropical low Saturday as it neared Brisbane, Australia, bringing heavy rain and flooding risks to the region, according to officials. Initially expected to make landfall as the first cyclone to strike southeast Queensland since 1974, Alfred's winds dropped to under 39 mph (63 kph) as it shifted inland.