Early wind and rain from a rare tropical cyclone began lashing part of eastern Australia on Thursday as schools were closed, public transport was stopped and desperate residents got around shortages of sandbags by buying potting mix.

People on the projected path of Cyclone Alfred have been asked to "act now" and leave before the situation gets worse as an “extremely rare” Category 2 storm barrels towards Australia’s southeastern coast.

Millions of residents along Australia’s eastern coast are preparing for the impact of the most southerly cyclone to threaten the region in more than five decades.