A tropical cyclone weakened into a tropical low weather system on Saturday as it approached Brisbane, Australia’s third-most populous city, bringing flooding rain that was expected to lash the coastal region for days.

Cyclone Alfred weakened into a tropical low Saturday but still threatened to unleash major floods on swollen rivers as it approached the rain and wind-lashed eastern coast of Australia. The former tropical cyclone has blacked out more than a quarter of a million homes and businesses while prompting evacuation orders for thousands of people.