Brisbane battens down for Marcia deluge

Brisbane's lord mayor has reassured residents the council is prepared for the imminent deluge and destructive winds from tropical cyclone Marcia.

As the category one system bears down on the central Queensland coastline, preparations in the southeast are in full swing, with more than 36,000 sandbags handed out in Brisbane by Thursday morning.

Five depots across the city are making about 3000 sandbags an hour as residents in low-lying suburbs try to mitigate the damage.

Residents needed to batten down and ensure loose items in their yards were secured, lord mayor Graham Quirk said.

But Mr Quirk agreed there was a fine line between warning people and being alarmist.

"That's why I don't want to overstate the situation but people also need to be prepared. I always take the view that it's better be safe than sorry," he said.

Severe weather is nothing new in the southeast after the region was left battered by November's super-cell storm.

The storm left city hall with a $25 million clean-up bill and the severe weather had affected the budget, he said.

"We've had to trim and do slight timing deferrals," Mr Quirk said.

"We haven't had to remove any projects going forward but we've got a budget and if we don't want to impose a further burden on people ... then we've just got to cut the cloth to measure and I think people understand that.

The Brisbane region is expected to be soaked by 200-400mm of rain from early on Friday morning.

The council is closing off street parking in low-lying suburbs to minimise any damage, including Windsor, Herston, Fortitude Valley, Bowen Hills and Albion.