The landfall of ex-Tropical Cyclone Alfred has brought powerful winds to Brisbane, with flooding and power outages impacting hundreds of thousands of properties across south-eastern Queensland and northern NSW.

Passengers on a Brisbane-bound cruise ship have been forced to spend days longer at sea as ex-Tropical Cyclone Alfred throws holiday plans into chaos.

Acting Police Commissioner Shane Chelepy has defended the warnings issued by police to the community, after residents in Brisbane were caught off guard by cyclonic level winds overnight to Sunday.

Tropical Cyclone Alfred is expected to make landfall in Brisbane on late Friday or early Saturday, causing several ships from Carnival, Royal Caribbean and others to stay far from the area until the storm passes.

Tropical cyclone Alfred is a reminder that powerful storms have the power to show up in some surprising places.

Tropical Cyclone Alfred is forecast to cross the coast between the Queensland state capital Brisbane and the tourist city of Gold Coast to the south late Thursday or early Friday.

South East Queensland and northern NSW continue to experience thunderstorms, intense rainfall and flooding in the wake of Alfred. Follow our ongoing coverage.