Aaron Bunch Journalist with Australian Associated Press | Collection of published work | + 61 484 008 119 | abunch@aap.com.au
Cyclone brewing in Queensland’s far north
A tropical low that’s dumping rain and wild weather on Far North Queensland is likely to become a cyclone on New Year’s Day.
January 1, 2019
Far North Queensland is having a soggy start to the new year as wild winds and torrential rain batter the region.
The Bureau of Meteorology expects further wild weather for the region with a tropical low over the Gulf of Carpentaria forecast to form into category one cyclone.
If it forms, tropical cyclone Penny is predicted to cross the western coast of the Cape York Peninsula late on Tuesday.
A cyclone warning has been issued for communities from Kowanyama north to Cape York, taking in Weipa, Aurukun and Mapoon.
Heavy rainfall and winds gusting in excess up to 125km/h are expected.
Further north, a severe weather warning for damaging winds, heavy rainfall and abnormally high tides has also been issued for the Torres Strait Islands.
A heavy rainfall warning has been issued for the east coast of the peninsula, south of Lockhart River to Cairns.
Totals in excess of 150mm are possible and could lead to flash flooding, the bureau warns.
Rivers and creeks are already swollen after heavy rain soaked the region over Christmas, with parts of the far north receiving more than 400mm in the past week.
A 34-year-old woman remains missing in the floodwaters after she disappeared in a fast-flowing creek near Cooktown on Thursday.
The body of a 28-year-old man was found on Monday morning, several kilometres downstream from where he entered a flooded canal close to Cairns city on Saturday.