Tropical Cyclone Kirrily downgraded to category one system as it crosses north Queensland coast

A satellite image of Tropical Cyclone Kirrily as it started to cross the coast near Townsville at about 8pm (AEST). (Supplied: BOM)

Tropical Cyclone Kirrily has been downgraded to a category one system as it crosses the Queensland coast, the Bureau of Meteorology says.

At 12am (AEST) Friday, the system had sustained winds near the centre of 85 kilometres per hour, with wind gusts to 120kph.

The cyclone is moving west-south-west at 22kph and is expected to weaken as it moves inland.

The current warning zone stretches from Innisfail to Ayr, including Townsville and extends inland to Charters Towers.

“Be very cautious of the conditions outside, even if [people] get the sense it’s calmed,” Patch Clapp from the Bureau of Meteorology said.

The system brought gale force winds, rain, and power outages across parts of north Queensland on Thursday evening.

At 10pm Thursday, Ergon Energy said there were about 35,000 customers in the Townsville region who had lost power, while further south, almost 9,000 Burdekin shire residents were blacked out.

Outages have also occurred around the areas of Cairns, Charters Towers, Hinchinbrook and Whitsunday.

Residents on Palm Island and Burdekin have been urged to take shelter, while communities in Townsville, Hinchinbrook and the Whitsunday islands have been told to prepare for isolation.

The cyclone is forecast to move inland on Friday as a tropical low with heavy to intense rain in parts of the northern interior and western Queensland.

Plans in place for Cyclone Kirrily

Isolated totals of up to 300mm have already been recorded over the past 24 hours.

Speaking on Thursday, meteorologist Miriam Bradbury said intense winds would move north as the “core” of the system approached the Townsville coastline.

“Sustained gale-force winds can really easily bring down trees and powerlines, which can cause property damage and lead to power failure,” she said.

“Having a plan in place for that is a really good idea – particularly through this afternoon and this evening as the cyclone core prepares to make landfall.”

BOM has also warned of storm tides between Townsville and Mackay as the system approaches and crosses the coast, which could cause flooding.

On Thursday morning, Mayor Jenny Hill said Townsville should not receive significant flooding or storm surge with the risk of intense rainfall lower than a few days ago.

An extra 100 Queensland Fire and Emergency Service (QFES) staff have been deployed to Townsville and 180 police were ready to be deployed into areas of need.

QFES Acting Commissioner Steve Smith said specialist resources could be relocated at any time if the system changed course.

“We have our resources positioned right through both the coastal impact areas and through those western areas,” he said.

All rail services cancelled 

More than 100 schools were closed on Thursday, while several Australia Day celebrations in the firing line of the cyclone were cancelled.

Townsville Airport closed at midday, and while Mackay Airport remains open for now, several airlines have cancelled flights in anticipation of the severe weather.

Queensland Rail has cancelled all train services north of Rockhampton.

All venues at the popular tourist destination of Hamilton Island have closed, with residents and guests asked to remain indoors until further advice is issued.

All transport to and from the island has been suspended, with Thursday’s flights and ferry services cancelled.

A community refuge centre has been opened on the island to provide shelter for those who need it.

Indirect impact to the south

The system is expected to move west towards the Northern Territory but southern and south-east Queensland may feel an “indirect impact”, including heavy rainfall and flooding over the weekend.

In Brisbane, 100,000 sandbags were made available to residents.

“We need to expect the worst and hope for the best and the way we do that is by being ready and being prepared,” Lord Mayor Adrian Schrinner said.

“Huge amounts of rainfall and concentrated catchments can lead to very rapid flash flooding.”