Sam Constas listened to the winds howling in the early hours of the morning with trees bending and palms rustling as ex-Tropical Cyclone Alfred pounded southeast Queensland.
"You would get 100 plus km/h winds and then quiet then another burst," he told AAP outside his Wynnum home.
Roads strewn with branches, twigs and leaves are what's left to show the former cyclone's impact.
Alfred crossed Moreton Island as a category one before it was downgraded to a tropical low, and is lingering at Bribie Island north of Brisbane.
The system is forecast to cross land later on Saturday bringing heavy rainfall and renewing flooding concerns despite the immediate threat of a cyclone subsiding.
Alfred's massive gusts felled trees, branches and other debris which now are the focus of clean up efforts.
Mr Constas got a start on cleaning up before the rain had even stopped, sweeping up debris off the road.
His Wynnum street is one of the tens of thousands that remain without power but the community spirit meant neighbours felt little impact.
Multiple generators were running on the street with long extension power cords draped over balconies to supply each house with power to keep the fridges cold.
Mr Constas was focused on making sure his neighbours were looked after.
"If we're going down to the bakery we'll give the neighbours a call to check if anybody needs anything," he said.
"We found a kettle buried in our storage so we've got boiling water and coffee so if anyone wants coffee we can do that."
Another neighbour had invited all the residents over for beers later on Saturday afternoon to see out the wet weather.
"Everyone does their little bit to look out for each other," he said.
Other Wynnum residents also decided to remain indoors with Alicia Manning, her husband Jeremie Manning and friend Otis Matvejs choosing to spend the rest of the day playing board games.
The trio had bravely ventured out to Wynnum foreshore on Saturday morning with Alfred's lingering effects soaking them to the bone thanks to heavy rain bursts and strong winds.
They were glad the cyclone had little impact on their coastal community.
"We're not disappointed because I'm glad nothing happened, we thought it was going to be a lot worse," Ms Manning told AAP.
Authorities are still warning the now tropical low may lead to flooding over the coming days with 800mm of rain still on the radar.
"Heavy to intense rainfall is expected to produce the risk of dangerous and life-threatening flash flooding and widespread minor to major riverine flooding across much of the south east," the Bureau of Meteorology's Matt Collopy said.
