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.

South East Queensland and northern NSW continue to experience rain and flooding in the wake of ex-Tropical Cyclone Alfred. Follow our ongoing coverage.

With hundreds of thousands of homes and businesses across southern Queensland and northern New South Wales without power, questions are inevitably turning to the strength of the electricity system.

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.

Although now classified as a tropical low, the effects of ex-Tropical Cyclone Alfred have been felt most severely in the Gold Coast, Brisbane, Hervey Bay, and the Northern Rivers. Insurers have already received nearly 3,000 claims, a number expected to rise as residents return to assess the damage.

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