Hundreds of thousands of people in Australia's Queensland state were without power on Sunday after Alfred, a downgraded tropical cyclone, brought damaging winds and heavy rains, sparking flood warnings.

Significant damage and power outages are possible in the densely populated region of Queensland, where tropical cyclones impacts are not uncommon but direct landfalls are.

But while authorities have been warning residents to stay indoors as Cyclone Alfred approaches, die-hard surfers have been throwing caution to the increasing wind. "This is what we look forward to," said Jeff Weatherall as he waited for a jet ski to pick him up from Kirra beach and carry him into the big waves.