Follow our live coverage of Tropical Cyclone Narelle.
Far North Queensland is bracing for the impact of Cyclone Narelle, expected to be the biggest cyclone to hit the region in nine years.
The storm formed in the Coral Sea between Queensland’s east coast and Vanuatu, and was upgraded to tropical cyclone status on Tuesday afternoon.
Path of Narelle
As of Thursday afternoon, forecasters predict it will cross in the sparsely populated region between Lockhart River and Cape Melville on Friday morning, with a severe impact “very likely”.
It is expected to weaken as it crosses Queensland, but to strengthen to cyclone status again as it moves west over the Gulf of Carpentaria towards the Northern Territory.
Nine state schools have closed as conditions worsened before landfall, and would reopen when it was safe for staff and students to attend.
Premier David Crisafulli said the government was “keeping an eye” on more than 10 other schools within the warning zone.
The following schools in the state’s north are closed until further notice.
Speaking to media on Thursday afternoon, Crisafulli said the window for people in the cyclone’s path to evacuate to other areas had closed.
Access to all communities north of Laura had been cut off, he said, and would be “offline for an extended period of time”.
The Bureau of Meteorology forecast heavy rain across the region from late Thursday, with a flood watch for dozens of river catchments, including:
- Jacky Jacky Creek
- Barron River
- Johnstone River
- Murray River
- Herbert River
- Staaten River
- Coleman and Edward Rivers
- Holroyd and Kendall Rivers
- Olive and Pascoe Rivers
- Archer and Coen Rivers
- Watson River
- Embley and Mission Rivers
- Wenlock River
- Ducie, Jackson and Skardon Rivers
- Jardine River
- Lockhart River
- Stewart River
- Normanby River
- Jeannie River
- Endeavour River
- Mossman River
- Mitchell River
- Daintree River (Including the Bloomfield River)
- Mulgrave and Russell Rivers
- Tully River
Get alerts on significant breaking news as happens. Sign up for our Breaking News Alert.
From our partners
Disclaimer : This story is auto aggregated by a computer programme and has not been created or edited by DOWNTHENEWS. Publisher: www.smh.com.au
