Tropical Cyclone Alfred is expected to make landfall somewhere between Maroochydore on the Sunshine Coast and Coolangatta on the Gold Coast on Friday morning, bringing severe weather.
People in south-east Queensland and northern New South Wales have begun battening down the hatches, with governments closing schools and some airports.
Here’s a guide to what’s closed, and what’s staying open.
School closures in Queensland
On Wednesday morning, the Queensland premier, David Crisafulli, announced that schools in south-east Queensland would be closed on Thursday and Friday.
The Queensland government has a list of schools that are closed because of the cyclone. As of 3.30pm on Wednesday, 663 state schools, 120 independent schools and 180 Catholic schools had been shut.
School closures in NSW
Many schools in northern NSW have also been closed, with the state government publishing a rolling list. As of 3.30pm on Wednesday, 122 public schools were non-operational. Five independent schools had been shut, including the Small School in Murwillumbah and Byron Community Primary School.
Airports
Airlines have cancelled many flights and several airports located in Tropical Cyclone Alfred’s path have been closed.
Gold Coast airport closed at 4pm local time on Wednesday. Jetstar, Qantas and Virgin Australia cancelled all flights in and out of Ballina airport on Wednesday.
Flights to Coffs Harbour airport, farther south on the NSW coast, will stop from midnight on Wednesday.
The Brisbane and Sunshine Coast airports remained open as of 4pm Wednesday, but travellers have been advised to check with their airline for any potential changes to their flights.
It was unclear when the airports would reopen.
What else has been affected?
Brisbane city council has advised that all CityCat and ferry services have been suspended. Bus services will be suspended from the last service on Wednesday, until further notice.
Rubbish collection in Brisbane was restricted to red bins only on Wednesday, then suspended entirely from Thursday, along with the kerbside collection of large rubbish.
Council libraries, community halls and golf courses will be closed from Thursday. The state library closed at 5pm on Wednesday.
Transport for NSW has advised people to avoid unnecessary travel through areas affected by the cyclone, including NSW TrainLink north coast services.
TfNSW said that, until at least midnight on Friday, all of these train services will terminate at Taree.
There is no guarantee of rail replacement buses or coaches north of Taree and they will only operate as far as Casino if safe to do so, TfNSW said.
A number of sporting, music and other events have also been postponed or cancelled.
The two AFL season openers due to be played in Queensland this weekend have been called off.
Brisbane’s match against Geelong at the Gabba in Brisbane on Thursday night and Gold Coast’s game against Essendon at People First Stadium on the Gold Coast on Saturday afternoon will now be played later in the season.
The AFL has yet to decide when the matches will be played.
The Friday night NRL game between the Dolphins and South Sydney Rabbitohs was meant to be played in Brisbane but it has been relocated to Sydney’s CommBank stadium.
The American rock band Green Day cancelled its Saviors concert due to be held in Brisbane on Wednesday night. In a statement, the band said: “We know how excited fans were for the concert and we share your disappointment”.
Bluey’s World – which replicates lifesize sets from the Australian children’s TV show – will close from Thursday.
What’s staying open?
As of Wednesday evening, all Queensland hospitals were due to remain open 24/7 for emergency care. No NSW health services or hospitals had been closed.
Coles will keep its stores open for as long as it is safe to do so. A spokesperson for the supermarket said it was working to ensure its stores across south-east Queensland remained well-stocked, especially with essentials such as canned goods, milk, bread, meat, baby formula and toilet paper.
“We have plenty of stock in our supply chain,” they said. “We just ask that customers shop as they normally would and be patient with our hard-working team members as they keep our shelves stocked.”
Woolworths was contacted for comment.
Fourteen evacuation centres opened in northern NSW on Wednesday evening, including in Murwillumbah, Uki and Mullumbimby. A full list is available on the NSW State Emergency Service’s website.
The Brisbane city council is expected to update its live emergency dashboard with information on evacuation centres.
Read more of Guardian Australia’s Tropical Cyclone Alfred coverage:
