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A weather system bringing destructive winds and heavy rain to North Queensland has made landfall, crossing the coast between Ayr and Bowen just after 9am on Sunday.
Koji was declared a cyclone on Saturday evening and was expected to cross as a category 2 storm. It was then downgraded to category 1 in the early hours of Sunday, and has since weakened below tropical cyclone intensity.
While warnings have been cancelled for Townsville and areas further south, including Bowen and Proserpine, strong winds with gusts up to 100 kilometres an hour were recorded over the Whitsunday Islands.
Heavy rain with the potential to cause flash flooding is still expected throughout the region and into Monday.
“We can see a lot of rainfall spiralling around the system,” said meteorologist Dean Narramore. “But it’s a very lopsided system, with most of the heaviest rainfall near and well south of [the system].
“And that’s why we’re particularly concerned about our communities from around the Ayr – and particularly Bowen – area, down through the Whitsundays, and down into the central coast and inland.”
The bureau said that since 9am on Saturday, there had already been more than 300 millimetres of rain around the Clarke Range area, with widespread falls of 100-200 millimetres between Bowen and Mackay.
“And that’s already led to flooding of rivers, creeks and streams, and some road closures as well,” Narramore said.
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Ex-Tropical Cyclone Koji is forecast to weaken and move further inland.
Severe weather warnings remain current for areas between Mackay and Ayr.
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