Whether it’s a high tide, king tide or a tide, you can see the water that starts bubbling up,” says one business owner.

NSW residents are being urged to avoid driving through floodwaters, following 17 emergency rescues over the last 24 hours in the wake of ex-Tropical Cyclone Alfred.

Residents of inner Brisbane suburb Rosalie are past masters of withstanding floods — but cyclones are an unfamiliar threat.