The agony of Alfred: long wait for cyclone's dark fury

Millions of people are sweating on Alfred's arrival after the category two system stalled overnight.

Alfred is set to cross Queensland's coast near Caboolture north of Brisbane as a category one cyclone on Saturday morning, 24 hours later than initially predicted.

It will be the first cyclone to impact Queensland's southeast since 1974 - when it finally arrives.

Mr Hawke is directly in Alfred's path at his Brighton home, just 30km from Caboolture.

For days he had been bracing for the destructive winds, storm surges and flooding set to be triggered by Alfred.

Now he has 24 more hours to dwell on the danger after the system meandered.

"We had a fair bit of prep time but the delay has added more anxiety because now there's more time to sit around and wait for something you don't know how bad it will be," he told AAP.

Mr Hawke is facing his third flood in as many years at Brighton but Alfred may pose a new challenge.

The system is set to arrive under the cover of darkness in Saturday's early hours, potentially disguising rising floodwaters and storm surges.

"Imagine crawling around in the water with a torch in the middle of the night with winds howling, it doesn't sound too much fun," Mr Hawke said.

Alfred's overnight slowdown will provide no respite, with the delay ensuring heavy rain and massive surf will hit southeast Queensland and northern NSW for longer.

NSW Premier Chris Minns said Alfred was like an "unwanted house guest" for arriving late and then hanging around for longer, with communities in the state's north told to evacuate on Thursday.

Alfred's delay gifted many extra time to prepare, with sandbagging sites reopening for last-minute preparations.

"This system will provide a challenge but if you do the preparation it is a system you will be able to handle," Queensland Premier David Crisafulli said on Thursday.

But some people were still caught out as the weather worsened.

Engaged couple Ansh and Kanika, who asked their surnames not be used, said they had experienced difficulty getting storm information on the Gold Coast and hadn't been able to stockpile essentials.

"We had a very delayed emergency news and we were working," Ansh told AAP at Tugun.

"We are worried as we have never seen a cyclone.

"If the power goes out it's going to be really hard. I don't know how people are going to deal with it, especially the elderly."

Schools, offices, airports, supermarkets and public transport began to shut down across Queensland's southeast and northern NSW as they braced for Alfred.

The system is set to trigger wind gusts up to 155km/h and 800mm of rain into the weekend from Brisbane to NSW's Northern Rivers when it eventually arrives.

The weather began to worsen on Thursday with gusts of 96km/h at Cape Morton north of Brisbane and a 12m wave off the Gold Coast.

An emergency warning has been issued for North Stradbroke Island and other islands in the Redland City Council area for destructive winds from 4am on Friday.

Mr Crisafulli called for common sense after reports of people falling off rock walls and playing in the Gold Coast's massive swell, with two people hospitalised.

Authorities continued to doorknock and warn people in high-risk areas on Thursday.

About 20,000 properties are in danger of being flooded in the Brisbane area alone.

Nearly 30 evacuation and cyclone refuge centres have opened, with several horses spotted tied up outside the Nambour site.