Millions of Aussies are preparing to batten down the hatches as Tropical Cyclone Kirrily nears the coast in north Queensland, bringing relentless rain, wild storms and gale-force winds of up to 165km/hr.
The cyclone, which has been upgraded to a category three, is expected to cross the coast north of Townsville between Bowen and Ingham on Thursday night, the Bureau of Meteorology said on Thursday afternoon.
Kirrily is about 155 kilometres km east-north-east of Townsville and is travelling at an increased speed of 22km/hour.
The cyclone will also bring heavy rain before it makes landfall.
The worst of the wild weather is forecast for Thursday night and early Friday morning.
Townsville is in the firing line of the cyclone but ‘significant’ wild weather will be more widespread along the coast from Innisfail to Sarina, where Mackay, Proserpine, Bowen and Caldwell will also feel the brunt.
Tropical Cyclone Kirrily will develop into a category two before it makes landfall tonight
Residents in north Queensland are bracing for the region’s second cyclone in as many months
‘Even though the crossing is going to occur near Townsville, the severe weather impact will be more extensive than that and could stretch out well beyond,’ meteorologist Angus Hines explained.
‘Throughout the day the strong winds will spread through the entire area.
‘Of particular concern are coastal communities between Townsville and Proserpine which could see the strongest winds – potentially damaging or destructive gusts of up to 140km/hr or more.’
Winds of up to 140km can cause extensive damage, including uprooted trees which can lead to power outages.
It could also result in storm tides along the coast where sea levels could rise above the normal high tide levels and cause flooding to low-lying roads and properties along the coast between Townsville and Mackay.
Kirrily is expected to weaken once it hits the coast and moves inland, where a wet Australia Day weekend is forecast.
Heavy falls of 100-300mm are expected from the coast to as far as the Northern Territory border.
‘On Friday and the weekend, we will continue to see Kirrily move into a west-south-west trajectory, bringing areas of rain through central and western parts of Queensland and potentially pushing towards parts of the Northern Territory,’ Mr Hines continued.
‘Some areas are likely to exceed 200mm and we could see some isolated spots reach 300m or more between now and the end of the weekend.
‘That amount of rainfall is certainly going to contribute to the possibility of riverine flooding.’
A broad flood watch covering much of the state remains in place.
Residents in Townsville are seen filling sandbags ahead of the system making landfall tonight
Gale-force winds are already whipping the Whitsunday Islands early Thursday morning.
Gusts of 102km/hour were recorded on Hamilton Island at 4.32am on Thursday.
Schools and businesses in Townsville will be closed on Thursday, as a quarter of a million Queenslanders prepare for Kirrily to make landfall.
Townsville Airport will be closed from midday, with many tourists cancelling their holidays to flood-ridden far north Queensland.
Pictured is a satellite image of Cyclone Kirrily from the Japan Meteorological Agency
Hundreds of properties could be isolated for several days with residents in Cungulla, Gumlow and Saunders Beach put on alert.
Police were seen going door to door in high-lying areas, making sure residents were aware they could be cut off for several days.
Residents as far north as Cardwell have already begun leaving their homes due to the risk of losing power during sweltering hot days forecast for this weekend.
The official warning zone for the storm has been narrowed down to between Cardwell and Sarina, a 600km stretch along the coastline.
Residents in Townsville, Mackay, Bowen, the Whitsunday Islands and Charters Towers are expected to be most impacted by the storm.
A storm tide is also expected to wreck havoc between Townsville and Mackay, causing minor flooding at beaches in the area.
Hundreds of properties could be cut-off and isolated for several days following heavy rain
Pictured is the forecasted accumulated rain during the 7 days ending at 11pm next Tuesday
The Bureau of Meteorology provided this updated tracking map at 6.20am on Thursday
In the case of extreme flooding additional swift water rescue boats will be on hand, with 54 interstate emergency services personnel deployed to Townsville.
State disaster coordinator Shane Chelepy said the slow-moving system, which was previously travelling at just 7km/hour, had allowed the state to be prepared.
He said support teams had been strategically placed at flooding hotspots.
Forecasters say intense rainfall that could cause ‘dangerous and life threatening flash flooding’ is possible after the cyclone crosses the coast.
The system will likely weaken to a tropical low and move inland, bringing heavy rain to parts of central and west Queensland from Friday.
While the tropical low is no longer expected to head south, there could still be an ‘indirect impact’ from the system in the state’s southeast, the bureau says.
Queensland Premier Steven Miles has urged residents to think about what travel is necessary
Pictured is the tropical storm sitting off Australia’s east coast on Thursday morning
‘There are still areas of southern and southeast Queensland that could see quite heavy rainfall over the weekend,’ a spokeswoman said.
‘There’s still a lot of moisture in the atmosphere and any shower or storm activity we see in the southeast or central parts of Queensland over the long weekend could still produce heavy rainfall and flash flooding as a result of this tropical low.’
Meanwhile, Premier Steven Miles has urged Queenslanders to be prepared and consider what travel is necessary from Thursday and into the weekend.
‘After the cyclone crosses the coast it’s likely to weaken to a tropical low, but have very high levels of rainfall associated with it,’ he said.
‘Depending on its path the rainfall is likely to cause flooding in parts of the state.’
Kirrily is the second cyclone to threaten Queensland in a month, after Jasper, which was a category two system, caused record flooding that devastated the far north.
