Ice Cube has found himself caught in the chaos of Cyclone Alfred, with the rap icon stranded at his Gold Coast hotel as the storm barrels toward Australia’s southeastern coast.

Residents are stacking sandbags to protect low-lying properties ahead of a tropical cyclone that is forecast to become the first in 51 years to hit the Australian east coast near Brisbane, the nation’s third-most populous city.

Tropical low Alfred has hit Australia's southeast coast, bringing heavy winds and rain. One person is dead, police report, and hundreds of thousands are without power as the storm knocks down trees and power lines,