Australia Weather News

A cyclone off northern Queensland has intensified to a category two and could reach category four by the time it crosses the coast somewhere between Cardwell and Bowen, near Townsville, the Bureau of Meteorology (BOM) has warned.

The tropical low was declared as Cyclone Debbie, a category one system, at 11:00am and is currently expected to cross the north Queensland coast on Tuesday morning, although it could be sooner or later.

BOM Queensland regional director Bruce Gunn said a degree of uncertainty remained in how the system would behave.

At 10:44pm AEST on Saturday the system was a category two, with sustained winds near the centre of 100 kilometres per hour gusting to 140 kilometres per hour.

At that time, it was 560 kilometres east of Cairns and 520 kilometres east-north-east of Townsville, moving slowly west-south-west.

The bureau says conditions remain favourable for Debbie to develop further before landfall, which will likely be between Townsville and Proserpine.

Gales are expected to develop about the coast and islands between Ayr and Mackay on Sunday afternoon or evening, possibly as far south as St Lawrence.

On Monday, gales could extend as far north as Cairns while destructive winds gusting over 125 kilometres per hour are expected to develop between Lucinda and Mackay.

When the system crosses the coast, it is expected to have wind gusts near 260 kilometres per hour at its centre, bringing abnormally high tides between at least Lucinda and Mackay.

People living in areas likely to be affected by flooding are warned to take measures to protect their property as much as possible and to monitor emergency broadcasts.

The bureau also warns heavy rain with the potential to cause severe flash flooding is expected late on Sunday, continuing through Monday and Tuesday.

There is a flood watch current for coastal catchments between Cairns and Gladstone, extending inland to the eastern Gulf River catchments.

"If the cyclone were to speed up we could feel impacts on the coast as early as Sunday night," Mr Gunn said.

"Alternatively it could slow down, but the problem with that is the longer time over the warm waters of the Coral Sea could see it intensify to a category five, I can't rule that out.

"But at the moment, our estimate is for a category four system to impact the coast with the centre crossing somewhere between Cardwell and Bowen.

"Category four systems have winds in excess of 200 kilometres per hour and you can expect some major structural damage with that sort of system.

"Caravans are a big risk and could easily be destroyed, dangerous airborne debris, widespread power outages, boats breaking their moorings, all of that sort of thing."

Townsville bracing for Cyclone Debbie

Townsville is right in the middle of the coastal crossing zone and Mayor Jenny Hill said the city would probably move to full alert on Saturday.

Cr Hill said people south of Townsville or on beachfront properties were most at risk and they may have to evacuate before the storm hits.

"We have to assume the tracking maps are reasonably correct. And we can't afford to wait until the last minute before asking people to consider leaving their properties and moving to somewhere safer," she said.

"What we'll ask people to do though initially is to move in with family and friends in areas of the city that are considered safer.

"We'll have a better indication today when the next report comes in from the weather bureau and we'll reassess from there."

Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk said disaster management committees had been activated in Cairns, Innisfail, Townsville and Mackay.

"I understand today that up north the weather conditions are fine, everything is calm and there are blue skies," she said.

"This is the time you should now be preparing ... make sure you have your emergency kits ready.

"We've also had some extensive discussions today about island communities — Palm Island, the Whitsunday communities including Hamilton Island.

"We've been in constant contact with the mayors there and we've been assured everyone is getting ready."