Hundreds of thousands of people remain without power in Australia after a cyclone brought wild weather to the east coast. Communities in southeast Queensland and northern New South Wales (NSW) were beginning the clean-up on Sunday after the storm caused widespread flooding and knocked down power lines and trees.

Gusts and torrential rain have blacked out more than a quarter of a million properties and swamped parts of Australia's east coast, officials said Sunday, with one driver confirmed dead and a dozen troops injured in the wild weather.

Ex-Cyclone Alfred yesterday stalled off the rain and wind-lashed coast of eastern Australia, threatening to unleash floods after blacking out more than 330,000 homes and businesses, while 36 people were injured when two army trucks collided.