Alfred was downgraded to a tropical low as it approached the coast on Saturday morning but severe weather warnings remain for most of southeast Queensland and northern NSW.
There are no reports of deaths or homes inundated in Queensland, however a man remains missing in northern NSW after being swept away by floodwaters in Megan near Coffs Harbour and thousands are under evacuation orders
An older apartment building on the Gold Coast lost its roof in the wild weather but there is no longer a risk of storm tide inundation along the coast, Queensland Premier David Crisafulli said.
Gold Coast University Hospital lost power and is running on generators, while the premier said authorities are now racing to get electricity back to two water treatment plants before they run out of water.
"The challenge is now flash flooding, creek rises - they remain a real prospect predicted in days ahead," Mr Crisafulli told reporters.
"We have to be ready for that prospect and with already swollen catchments, the risk of flash flooding remains."
Gold Coast Council warned residents to stay inside after widespread flooding and significant damage across the city.
Schools and public transport in southeast Queensland remain closed until further notice and the premier promised to reveal when they would open with at least one day's notice.
Some 240,000 homes and businesses lost power in the state's southeast and thousands more have been warned to brace for ongoing outages as the system moves inland.
Wild conditions pummelled coastal communities overnight, with 120 millimetres of rain recorded at the Gold Coast and 130mm at Lismore since 9am on Friday.
Dozens of evacuation alerts have been issued for communities in northern NSW and the Lismore levee is expected to spill later on Saturday.
There were some 8,800 calls for assistance to the SES and more than 16,000 people are under evacuation orders in the Northern Rivers and Mid North Coast areas, the agency said.
The area is prone to devastating flooding and some 31,400 dwellings were under flood warnings as of 5am on Saturday.
Brisbane cafe owner Quat Vu spent days preparing for Alfred after his Eightysix Cafe was inundated during the 2022 floods, which devastated more than 20,000 homes and caused $2 billion in damage.
Blue translucent tarps lined his cafe's windows, hunkered down with lines of yellow and white sandbags.
"We had (sandbags) to a certain height but then we got the latest news about what the cyclone is doing and how it is going to dump a lot more rain," he said prior to the low crossing the coast.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said a team of 66 disaster response personnel have arrived from New Zealand to assist, as hardship payments for those who are unable to work activate.
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