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Residents in remote communities of Far North Queensland are bracing for further destructive winds and heavy rain as Tropical Cyclone Narelle barrels across the Cape York Peninsula.
The cyclone crossed the coast between Lockhart River and Coen on Friday morning as a category 4 system, with Premier David Crisafulli saying the route had helped minimise damage.
“It’s threaded a needle between both,” he said on Friday afternoon from the emergency centre at Kedron in Brisbane on Friday afternoon.
“Whilst there is some damage that we’ve seen … that is an incredibly good news story. Incredibly good news story.”
After crossing the coast, the storm dropped to a category 3 system.
No serious injuries were reported on Friday afternoon, but some damage was recorded in towns including Coen, where photos showed a roof blown off a structure.
Narelle was predicted to reach the Gulf of Carpentaria by Friday evening, where it was expected to strengthen again to a severe tropical cyclone before impacting the Northern Territory from late Saturday.
The Bureau of Meteorology warned heavy winds and ongoing rain were still a risk in Queensland on Friday afternoon, with the region already saturated amid a significant wet season. More than 300 millimetres had been record in some areas by 4pm on Friday.
“Heavy to intense rainfall is still occurring, and even after the system moves off the west coast, there is the potential for heavy rain and the water that has fallen will then flow into rivers and creeks,” Matthew Collopy from the Bureau of Meteorology said.
“The potential for flash and riverine flooding continues.”
Police warned residents in the impact zone to remain safe and away from floodwaters.
“Do not let stupidity shorten your life,” State Disaster Co-ordinator Chris Stream said.
“Driving into floodwater can have fatal consequences and can place emergency service responders and others at risk.”
Power was out for more than 1000 people early on Friday, but that number dropped significantly by the early afternoon. Ergon Energy was working to restore electricity where possible, but some areas were expected to be temporarily inaccessible.
Dozens of guests bunkered down in their accommodation, such as those in the Heritage Resort in Weipa, as the system crossed the peninsula.
Brian McConnell, who manages the resort, told this masthead some guests were unable to get on extra flights that were scheduled on Thursday.
“They were a little anxious to start with,” he said, explaining they had now accepted they would be hunkered down until Sunday.
“The roads are all closed, so there’s no way out apart from flying.”
Crisafulli plannned to travel to Far North Queensland at the weekend, and promised his government would work with federal counterparts on recovery payments for those affected by Cyclone Narelle.
Fourteen schools in the region were closed on Friday, and would reopen once it was safe to do so.
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