House sitting on the Gold Coast seemed like a good idea.
"The plan was to be lying by the pool under the sun," James Hatch told AAP.
Instead he expects to wait anxiously indoors as Queensland's southeast braces for a cyclone direct hit for the first time in more than 50 years.
Mr Hatch was among many who queued for hours at sandbagging stations on Monday as the region counted down to Tropical Cyclone Alfred's arrival.
Others hit the supermarket, with panic buying leaving shelves bare in some locations.
Alfred is forecast to cross between Queensland's K'gari (formerly Fraser Island) and the Gold Coast on Thursday night or in Friday's early hours as a category one or two system.
People have been told to leave or prepare for the worst with the system set to trigger flash flooding, heavy rainfall, destructive winds and significant coastal erosion.
Mr Hatch is preparing for the worst.
"I am house sitting at Palm Beach near Tallebudgera Creek so flash flooding is my main concern," he said.
"When it hits I will probably try and stay up all night and do what I can to protect the property."
The house sitter's plans to lounge poolside have been quickly scrapped as Alfred looms, with his focus now on sandbagging his adopted home.
Limited to 15 sandbags at the local pick-up site, Mr Hatch has plenty of work to do before Alfred hits.
"I have got 100 (empty) bags at home so I am going to have to find some sand, get a shovel and try and do a few more myself," he said.
The last cyclone to cross Queensland's southeast was Zoe in 1974 while Nancy came close in 1990.
Alfred is "yo-yoing" between a category one and two system off Queensland, prompting warnings for locals to get ready.
It is expected to do a U-turn towards Queensland on Tuesday before making landfall later in the week.
Island and coastal communities east of Brisbane were told to leave or be prepared for what came next.
"This is certainly an event that doesn't happen a lot for this part of the state ... I am asking Queenslanders to be ready for it," Premier David Crisafulli said.
Alfred is already impacting the coast, causing waves up to 15 metres and significant erosion from K'gari to the Gold Coast.
Emergency services, telco providers, health professionals, Energex crews and generators have bolstered the region as they brace for daily rainfall of up to 400mm after Alfred hits.
Gold Coast beaches were closed and boaties urged to stay off the water.
Ferry and barge services were set to cease to Moreton Bay islands, with all of Brisbane's CityCats off the water from Monday night.
Sunshine Coast's Mooloolaba shipping operations paused while two cruise boats were looking for alternate ports as another looked to offload passengers at Brisbane.
The cyclone watch area spans K'gari down to Grafton, NSW.
Flood watches are current across southeast Queensland and NSW's northeast.
NSW's Northern Rivers have been told authorities are doing "everything we can" to prepare, after flooding in the region three years ago claimed five lives and destroyed homes.
"We're cognisant of what the Northern Rivers have gone through and some of the trauma that they carry," NSW Emergency Services Minister Jihad Dib told reporters.
