When Brisbane and south-east Queensland would start to reopen remained unclear.
Translink reported all public transport services were cancelled “until further notice”, while more than 600 Education Queensland schools would reopen “when it is safe for students to attend”.
Crisafulli said families would be updated after the cyclone passed.
Brisbane has been forecast to cop 200 millimetres of rain in a 24-hour period.
Lord Mayor Schrinner said most of the rain was forecast to come on Saturday, with the tail end of the cyclone.
“Progressively throughout [Friday] the winds will continue to gear up, we’ll get more rain, and then obviously the potential for trees and branches to come down, power outages throughout the day into [Saturday],” he told ABC Radio Brisbane.
“The scale of this weather system is incredible … unlike the normal storms that come through Brisbane.”
On Thursday, Cape Moreton recorded wind gusts of 96km/h, while there were 80km/h winds at the Gold Coast Seaway and Double Island Point.
Crisafulli noted the system was “starting to pack a bit of a punch”.
“Everyone will experience some form if you’re in that zone, whether it’s wind, whether it’s waves, whether it’s rain, whether it’s flooding, or a combination of them,” he said.
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Bureau of Meteorology Brisbane manager Matthew Collopy said Alfred was still forecast to hit the outer islands of Moreton Bay at a category 2, but would weaken as it moved towards Brisbane.
As Alfred closes in, residents in the Gold Coast and Redland Bay areas have been warned they could see storm surges up to 1.5 metres if the system crossed at high tide.
Acting Gold Coast Mayor Donna Gates said she was staggered people had not only been risking their lives out on the beaches, but putting emergency crews at risk.
She said the Gold Coast would start to record winds up to 100km/h from Friday.
The Brisbane Airport cancelled flights from Thursday afternoon, with Qantas and Jetstar international flights suspended until at least noon on Saturday, and domestic operations until at least Sunday morning.
In a bid to protect water supply, more than 30 water treatment plants were put in place across the region, with Crisafulli confirming they were fortified with back-up generators.
There had been confusion from residents living in low-lying areas about whether they could park their cars in shopping centres for free to avoid flooding risks. A Scentre Group spokeswoman said parking was free at Westfield shopping centres in the cyclone warning zone on Thursday, but they could not guarantee safe access or storage of cars during or after cyclone.
The premier also had a message for big business.
“Let me answer it this way, if someone takes the initiative to go and put their car into a safe place, I would hope that they are supported in that journey,” Crisafulli said.
“And we want everyone to be good corporate citizens and good community citizens at the moment.”
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