Tropical Cyclone Alfred weakens to tropical low

A 61-year-old man who disappeared in a flooded river near the New South Wales town of Dorrigo was confirmed as the first fatality of the crisis.

One person has died and several were injured as flooding rains lash the Australian east coast even though it avoided its first tropical cyclone in 51 years.

A tropical cyclone has weakened into a tropical low weather system but is still bringing destruction across the Australian coast as it approaches Brisbane, Australia's third-most populous city.