Alfred – which was downgraded from a cyclone before it made landfall – has turned beaches into cliffs. Erosion is so extreme that long, steep slopes up to six-metres high have formed. At least one person was killed and four others remain missing,

Residents are stacking sandbags to protect low-lying properties ahead of a tropical cyclone that is forecast to become the first in 51 years to hit the Australian east coast near Brisbane, the nation’s third-most populous city.

Eighty per cent of the tourist strip's famous beaches have been carved away by Tropical Cyclone Alfred but the mayor says they will be back to their best for the Easter holidays.