Before and after pictures of Australia’s east coast show the true scale of devastation caused by Tropical Cyclone Alfred. What was once a paradise for surfers, with golden, sunlit sands, became a battleground as waves as high as ‘three or four-storey buildings’ slammed into the coastline.

When water started coming through Tammie Fogarty's roof on Sunday, memories of another storm came flooding back.Some unlucky residents in the Gold Coast hinterland have experienced a bushfire, a flood,

Gold Coast beaches that were battered by Cyclone Alfred are steadily reopening, and healthy crowds are expected this weekend to try them out.