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Coastal residents of Queensland are taking shelter as Cyclone Marcia hits the coast, with authorities warning of the potential dangers due to the severity of the storm.
Coastal residents of Queensland are taking shelter as Cyclone Marcia hits the coast, with police issuing warnings about the potential dangers due to the severity of the storm.
Cyclone Marcia has been upgraded to a category five system by the Bureau of Meteorology with residents bracing themselves for widespread destruction as the cyclone hits the mainland this morning. To put that in perspective, Cyclone Tracy which infamously flattened Darwin in 1974 was a category Four storm.
Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk said in a press conference this morning that: “We are now very concerned with people’s safety.”
She also warned that thousands of Queenslanders were expected to face a “harrowing and terrifying experience”.
NASA’s hurricane web page shared these satallite snaps – left of Cyclone Marcia hitting the QLD coast and right, Cyclone Lam hitting NT.
Residents of the Yeppoon and Rockhampton areas have been warned not to go outside as those coastal towns get hit first with expected wind gusts of up to 295 km/h.
SES Assistant Commissioner Peter Jeffrey told the TODAY Show that the time for preparations has now passed: “It’s time to essentially brace, make safe for yourself, and make safe for your family,” he said.
Queensland Police warn residents to stay inside.
Images of leaning trees in the coastal town of Yeppoon – the first town hit by the cyclone.
Most of Queensland’s beaches have been closed with giant swells expected. Coastal towns have been evacuated overnight with the storm cell predicted to move down the coast with flights cancelled to the Hervey Bay, Bundaberg and Rockhampton regions.
Two fisherman, aged 38 and 39, who went missing off Fraser Island overnight have been found safe and well in water near Moonboom.
An ABC reporter shared this snap of Cyclone Marcia pounding the coastline in Yeppoon.
On the Sunshine Coast, flash flooding is expected and sandbags have been distributed by the Noosa State Emergency Service to low-lying coastal towns and the hinterland areas.
Evacuation centres have been opened at various locations including Sarina, Gladstone and Yeppoon and police and SES remain on standby.
Maleny Dairies in the Brisbane hinterland posted this snap of flooding at the dairy.
Meanwhile in the Northern Territory, category four Tropical Cyclone Lam made landfall overnight at approximately 2am with wind gusts of up to 260 km/h recorded and thousands of residents left without power.
Coastal areas in the territory have been hit by flash flooding with residents being evacuated by plane and helicopter to shelter in Darwin.
While cyclone conditions are expected to continue pounding the Northern coastal areas of the Territory all day Friday, it’s expected the storm will decay into a category one by Friday evening.
Northern Territory Chief Minister Adam Giles warned residents to “stay bunkered down” but advised there have been no reported fatalities or serious injuries so far.
Redland SES posted this satellite image of the cyclone as it crossed the coast
