Queensland’s Tropical Cyclone Kimi has been upgraded to a category 2 with residents warned to be on alert due to how unpredictable it is.
Residents in areas between Innisfail and Ayr, including Lucinda, Palm Island and Townsville, have been warned to prepare property to be lashed by the storm.
The Bureau of Meteorology (BOM) said the cyclone was still off the coast just before 8pm AEST and was moving southeast, parallel to the Queensland coast.
The bureau has been busy issuing warnings all day, with residents in Brisbame’s Bayside suburbs on alert for “life-threatening flash flooding”.
Redlands saw 109mm of rain in an hour.
Senior Meteorologist Laura Boekel said the cyclone was located east of Innisfail shortly after 4pm AEST, with the system intensifying throughout the day.
“As it moves further south, it is moving into an environment that isn’t favourable for development so, we are expecting it to begin weakening from either this evening or tomorrow,” she told reporters on Monday afternoon.
“The latest guide from the bureau now no longer has Kimi crossing the coast, but it does have it sort of meandering in the ocean, weakening as it moves south, and then looping back and continuing to weaken as it then moves north up the coast as a low pressure system.
“The uncertainty is high with tropical cyclone Kimi.”
Queensland Emergency Services Minister Mark Ryan implored residents in the state’s far north to keep an eye out for updates given the extraordinary nature of the storm.
“This particular cyclone is unusually unpredictable,” he said.
“We're seeing it changing its track every three hours or so. So means everyone needs to be prepared.”
Mark Nolan, the mayor of Cassowary Coast Regional Council, which includes Innisfail, said the region had been preparing for the possibility of needing to social distance in emergency evacuation centres.
“We started planning six months ago because we knew that if we did get a tropical storm visit then we’d have to deal with COVID and the storm,” he told NCA NewsWire on Monday afternoon.
“Because it’s a small cyclone, it won’t complicate things in terms of having to open up cyclone shelters, but if it was a big cyclone and we opened up the shelters then we would have to manage how many could fit in there.
“So capacity was going to become an issue.”
Mr Nolan said the community wasn’t panicking because it had become accustomed to much larger cyclone threats, such as Yasi in 2011, but it was on high alert due to the risk of flooding.
“The big threat is rain, there’s no doubt about that,” he said.
“Our area is saturated from cyclone Imogen, with the remnants of which came through a few days ago and we’ve had plenty of rain.
“With the saturation of our fields and agriculture sector, we are acutely aware that whatever rain Kimi brings is going to be our biggest challenge.”
The update comes as a major Cairns shopping centre closed its doors earlier on Monday with the region preparing for the cyclone to hit land.
Destructive winds with gusts up to 130 km/h could develop on Monday evening or early Tuesday, and heavy rainfall with the potential to cause flash flooding and major river flooding is expected to affect the coast.
Forecaster Alex Majchrowski said falls of 100-300mm were likely in the cyclone watch area.
“We could even see falls heavier than that, especially if thunderstorms develop as they wrap around the system,” he said.
As of 11am Monday, the bureau said the cyclone was moving south at 12km/h and was 90km east of Cairns and 250km north of Townsville.
A cyclone warning is active for Port Douglas to Ayr.
State disaster co-ordinator Steve Gollschewski said anyone in the area should look at their local arrangements, including sandbagging, and think ahead.
“We have had significant rain in parts of those areas recently, so we have very wet catchments … So we’re watching very closely the flood levels and we’ll be issuing alerts as they come through,” he said.
“This is the time for preparation … And, if it’s flooded, forget it.”
The state disaster committee will meet again on Tuesday morning and provide an update on the cyclone shortly after.
As a result of the cyclone warning, Cairns Central shopping centre was closed on Monday.
“Cairns Central centre management will continue to monitor the situation closely and will act according to the advice of emergency services,” the centre said in a Facebook statement.
“Our focus continues to be the safety of all retailers, staff, customers and the Cairns community.”
Southern Queensland is in for a damp Monday as well, with severe thunderstorm activity extending from Charleville to the southeast coast.
“Heavy rains and damaging winds are likely,” Mr Majchrowski said.
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2021-01-18 07:41:15Z
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