Cyclone Niran has been upgraded to a category two system and is expected to be upgraded to a category three on Wednesday, the weather bureau says.
The storm was 280 kilometers northeast of Cairns on Tuesday afternoon, and it carried 95km / h winds and 130km / h gusts as it traced slightly northwest.
The office says strong winds, rain and unusually high waves are expected next 24 to 48 hours in coastal areas.
Expectations
Churning off north Queensland’s coast, Niran has left thousands of homes without power and heavy rain caused floods in some areas.
Clamp Point saw 276 millimeters in 24 hours – the total number recorded so far.
“The cyclone is expected to continue moving slowly to the north-east during today before becoming slow-moving or drifting back slowly to the west this evening into Wednesday,” the Bureau of Meteorology said.
“Niran is expected to continue to strengthen in the next day or two.”
“It is a category two system and is expected to intensify into a category three system Wednesday.”
Warnings
A warning has been issued for coastal and island communities between the Cape Flattery and Innisfail, with winds expected to reach 100km / h on Wednesday.
The winds blew up power lines on Monday night, cutting power access for at least 42,000 homes in the region.
Unusually high waves can also occur on Queensland’s east and east coasts, and strong wind warnings were present in these regions on Wednesday.
The Townsville radar went offline on Sunday but the bureau assured the public that it did not affect its ability to issue forecasts and warnings.
It is estimated that it will be operational again on Thursday.
Flood warnings and watches would also be monitored and reviewed on Tuesday.
Two people were rescued from floodwaters near Star River, west of Townsville, around 9.30pm on Monday.
Premier Annastacia’s Message
The premier, Annastacia Palaszczuk, said residents should follow the bureau for updates.
“My main message today to people in the far north, and they’ve dealt with heavy rain before and cyclones so they know exactly what they’re doing, but if it’s flooded, forget it,” she said.
Tropical storm advice would be issued by the office every three hours at the time of the warning.
Cairns Deputy Mayor Terry James said the weather had deteriorated as the storm left the coast on Tuesday morning.
“The conditions here at the moment is pretty typical in Cairns, beautiful one day and perfect the next,” he told Seven’s Sunrise program.
“So we have got a small hiccup, we have got a cyclone off the coast as you mentioned, about 250km to the north-east of us, and it’s a bit of a breeze at the moment and is heading away from us at the moment so we don’t expect to see to much trouble until maybe later on tonight.”
