Dozens of people have been rescued from floods in chaos stretching across Brisbane, the Gold Coast and parts of NSW.

A series of decisions made by Daniel Spindler and his wife saved them from a once-in-a-generation cyclone after a tree came crashing through their dining room.

Ex-tropical Cyclone Alfred has been downgraded to a tropical low, as it approaches Australia’s eastern coast. Although the speed at which Alfred is travelling has slowed, Brisbane locals have been sent a stark warning of what might be to come.