Ex-tropical cyclone Alfred lingered off the south-east Australian coast on Saturday and forecasters said Brisbane is likely to miss the worst of the storm, a relief for millions of residents in the region who have been staying indoors.

The former tropical cyclone lay about 65 kilometers off the coast of the Queensland capital, Brisbane, government forecasters said in a final update. Now without gale-force winds, the storm was slowly moving toward the coast and delivering intense rain before it was expected to cross over the mainland later in the day.

Cyclone Alfred weakened into a tropical low Saturday but still threatened to unleash major floods on swollen rivers as it approached the rain and wind-lashed eastern coast of Australia.