Around 2,000 Olympic swimming pools worth of sand is estimated to be gone – 80% of Gold Coast’s beaches, according to city mayor Tom Tate. Much of it was gone before Cyclone Alfred even hit, giving the coast a double blow by making it more vulnerable to erosive storm surges when it finally did make land.

Over the weekend, residents of Brisbane, Australia, were bracing for the impact of Tropical Cyclone Alfred. The storm was downgraded to a tropical low, and made landfall on the mainland on Saturday. It was the first storm of its kind in the area in 51 years.

Tropical Cyclone Alfred is forecast to make landfall somewhere between the Gold Coast and Sunshine Coast on Thursday.