Thousands without power, roads cut as cyclone hits
Robyn Wuth |
Thousands of people remain without power after ex-Tropical Cyclone Koji crossed the Queensland coast, as residents brace for torrential rain and flooding.
Koji was downgraded to a tropical low as it crossed the Queensland coast just before 10am on Sunday.
The storm, with wind gusts of up to 110km/h and torrential rain, hit coastal towns including Mackay as heavy falls continues to lash the state.
More than 18,000 homes were without power at the storm’s peak, with work under way to repair the electricity network.
Cyclone warnings have been cancelled, but the far north faces a new threat of torrential rain and flooding, with isolated totals of up to 340mm expected over 24 hours across saturated catchments.
The risk of flooding was high, Queensland Premier David Crisafulli said on Sunday.
“They are swollen catchments, and in the hours and days ahead, there are expected risks from the rainfall still to come,” he said.
The highest rainfall recorded by midday on Sunday was 260mm at Cattle Creek, west of Mackay.
A flood watch has been issued for the north, down to the Wide Bay Burnett and west to the Barcoo shire.
“Now that’s a large area, but it is a big system, and because in many cases, they’re swollen catchments, there remains a real risk of that flash flooding,” warned Mr Crisafulli.
Flood watches remain in place for the Channel Country, after the monsoon earlier devastated the state’s northwest, isolating towns and properties.
The mammoth clean-up had barely begun, with conservative estimates of more than 45,000 livestock missing or dead, as graziers prepared to be impacted by the remnants of Koji.
At the height of the cyclone, wind gusts up to 110km/h brought down trees and fences and damaged buildings, while flooding rain forcing roads to close.
Residents of Marian, about 30km west of Mackay, were significantly impacted as Koji made landfall.
“We are getting absolutely smashed,” Stephanie, a mother of one, told AAP as the cyclone made landfall.
“Our fence is down, our neighbour’s fence is down. The rain is just sideways. There’s nothing we can do but just wait it out.”
Heavy rainfall has pummelled the town, with the Bureau of Meteorology reporting 146mm of rain in just two hours, just to the west at Gargutt.
In Mackay, tourist Josephine Tobias is staying at the Mackay Caravan Park and said locals were well prepared.
“We chose to stay, and it’s wet, and it’s windy, but everything is okay,” Ms Tobias said.
“This is the first time I’ve been through a cyclone, but everyone keeps telling me it’s just a category one and not to panic.
“It’s like a really bad storm that just keeps going.”
Heavy rain inundated Ayr and Mackay, and damaging 113km/h wind gusts have slammed tourism hotspot the Whitsunday Islands.
Overnight falls of up to 200mm were recorded west of Mackay with the bulk of the falls expected in the next two days.
“Cyclone Koji is crossing the coast between Ayr and Bowen,” senior forecaster Dean Narramore said on Sunday.
“We can see a lot of rainfall spiralling around the system – it’s a very lopsided system with most of the heaviest rainfall near and well south of Tropical Cyclone Koji, and that’s why we’re particularly concerned about our residents and communities from around the Ayr and Bowen area, down through the Whitsundays.
“That’s bringing strong to locally damaging winds and also widespread heavy rainfall that is going to lead to widespread flooding in the coming days, on top of what is already going on through parts of Queensland.”
AAP
