Cyclone Ita is sweeping its way down the Far North Queensland coast right now, but it appears the region has dodged a bullet
Courier-Mail reporter Peter Michael captures the fury of Cyclone Ita in Cooktown.
CYCLONE Ita has weakened to a category one but threatens to bring heavy rain as it moves down the north Queensland coast, Refresh this page for regular updates.
9.04pm: QUEENSLANDERS from Cooktown to Proserpine will be swamped by floodwaters and torrential downpours as Cyclone Ita continues to menace the state's north.
Several towns were cut off by floodwaters as the former Category 5 system dumped hundreds of millimetres of rain in its track towards the Whitsundays.
Cyclone Ita crossed the coast at Cape Flattery late Friday night, packing 230km/h winds. It damaged dozens of houses and a historic hotel in Cooktown.
But the feared super-storm did not eventuate as Ita had lost much of its intensity before it reached Cooktown.
A southbound Cyclone Ita could dump up to 300mm of rain on populated coastal communities in central Qld.
But as the risk of strong winds and a storm surge eased, flooding emerged as the biggest challenge facing the entire northern coastal region between Cooktown and Proserpine as Ita set course to the south.
The Insurance Council of Australia declared it a "catastrophe".
Premier Campbell Newman warned the state was not out of the woods, and singled out Ingham as one town likely to be facing a "significant flood risk".
"It will track down the coast, it's believed, as a tropical cyclone, Category 1, heading down all the way through to the Whitsundays and then it starts to head out into the ocean," Mr Newman said.
"We can expect significant rainfall right down the coast. That means we are going to see significant flooding of various coastal rivers and creek systems. It means that roads will be blocked and impassable for some hours and maybe even some days. It means there are significant hazards on those creek crossings."
Campbell Newman has postponed a planned visit to Cooktown as strong winds make helicopter travel unsafe.
6.30pm: Premier Campbell Newman asked residents to band together in the coming days and weeks as the recovery task begins.
"There's a large team of people just raring to go, to get into the affected areas to support you." he said.
"We all want to get there as soon as possible to help out, to put things back together, to clean up.
"But frankly this event is still occurring. This is still a cyclone, a tropical cyclone of category one and it does come with quite strong gale force winds and there are real difficulties currently with us getting in to certain areas.
"I ask that Queenslanders work together as a team to look after each other and to make sure that we get through this event.
"No one has been forgotten. We will get in there and make things right as soon as we can."
Mr Newman said Cyclone Ita was about 50 to 60km north of Cairns and was moving in a south-easterly direction on the edge of the coast.
"It will track down the coast, it's believed, as a tropical cyclone, category one, heading down all the way through to the Whitsundays and then it starts to head out into the ocean.
"What the weather bureau are telling us is that we can expect significant rainfall right down the coast. Falls of up to 300mm in locations can occur all the way down to Yeppoon near Rockhampton.
"That means we are going to see significant flooding of various coastal rivers and creek systems. It means that roads will be blocked and impassable for some hours and maybe even some days. It means there are significant hazards on those creek crossings and again I urge people to restrict their travel. The best way people can remain safe is to sit in their homes and wait this one out.
"I am advised that there could be a significant flood risk for Ingham."
IN PICTURES: Cyclone Ita wreaks havoc
He said about four buildings in Cooktown had been completely destroyed, four severely damaged, four moderately damaged and 42 with minor damage with about 320 people remaining in the cyclone shelter.
About 1300 customers are without power but the area has mobile services.
"The hospital and local shops appear to have only sustained minor damage," he said.
Mr Newman said authorities were having difficulties accessing the community of Hopevale with both power and the mobile service out.
"There are 30 to 40 trees across the road leading in and I understand residents… have started their own clean-up," he said.
"Compared to Cooktown it appears it has been less of a damaging event."
In Wujal Wujal about 350 customers are without power with the town isolated by flooded roads.
The roof of the West Coast Hotel after being peeled off during the night. Source: CourierMail
Mr Newman said the rain was causing problems in Cairns.
"In Kuranda we have seen significant damage to a house and moderate damage to three others due to trees coming down. In Mossman 10 to 15 homes have suffered flood damage. In Port Douglas there have been 25 to 30 residents isolated because of flooding," he said.
"Powerlines are down on the Captain Cook Highway. "
He said customers were also without power in Mossman and Port Douglas while about 400 customers are without power on the Tablelands and about 1400 customers without power in Atherton.
5.44pm: Premier Campbell Newman has announced the appointment of Inspector Kevin Gutteridge, who has been working on the mystery disappearance and then reappearance of toddler Chloe Campbell, as state disaster recovery coordinator to help the north recover from Cyclone Ita.
Mr Newman warned the state was not out of the woods just yet, however, with heavy falls of up to 300mm expected all the way down the coast as far as Yeppoon as the cyclone moved down the coast and out to sea.
There are 13,119 people without power across the northern tropics as electricity providers struggle to gain access to some areas.
As Tropical Cyclone Ita continues south, almost 7000 residents around Cairns have experienced power outages.
A home loses its roof in Cooktown. Source: News Corp Australia
Another 1100 around Kurranda – just outside Cairns – have also been in the dark since about midnight last night.
In a release issued this afternoon Ergon Energy said: "People should understand these power impacts could continue and we would expect further issues if current weather patterns and localised flooding continues."
In some areas, generators have been supplying power to hospitals, supermarkets and shelters.
5:00pm: Cyclone Ita was estimated to be 20 km south-southwest of Port Douglas and 45 km west northwest of Cairns, and moving south southeast at 11 kilometres per hour.
Tropical Cyclone Ita is forecast to move to the southeast during the next 24 hours, most likely close to or just offshore of the southern tropical and central coast, and is now expected to maintain tropical cyclone intensity.
Damage to a house in Cooktown. Pic: Tess Photography. Source: Supplied
The shire's mayor Peter Scott said they had been slowly connecting some residents to a small reservoir of available clean water until they were able to reconnect the town's main supply.
But some people had been using it to clean their driveways and wash their walls, so they were forced to cut the supply altogether.
"We can't reconnect people until we get the message out about water restrictions; we're on level three at the moment, but some people are either being silly or just don't know about it."
The main reservoir sits about 20km out of town, but authorities are currently unable to reach it because of bad conditions on the roads.
3.30pm: SMALLER Far North communities have emerged from Cyclone Ita better than expected, but serious flooding will leave many cut off for several days.
Laura Amateur Turf Club caretaker Len Davis said the tiny Cook Shire town and its several stores had escaped the storm with little to no structural damage overnight, describing the town's iconic Quinkan Hotel as "good as gold".
He said residents had used rope to tie down their rooves before fleeing their homes to take shelter in the Quinkan and Regional Cultural Centre to see out the worst of Ita last night.
Strong gales and heavy rain continues to batter Cooktown as locals assess the damage caused by cyclone Ita.
The town's turf club is also surprisingly "fine and dandy", he said, with no damage to the $1 million-worth of facilities and only several fallen branches.
But a swollen Laura River is wreaking havoc on the roads, cutting access to and from the town at the northern bridge, which Mr Davies said was flooding more than 2.6m over at midday today.
The town has received almost 140mm of rain between 9am Friday and midday today and it's still pouring, with Mr Davies saying he expected flooding of Rifle Creek at Mt Molloy and McLeod River just north of Mt Carbine as the day progressed, causing further grief.
Family of five rescued from floowaters near Cooktown. Pic: Ch 7 Source: CourierMail
Lakeland has been inundated with rain and Honey Dam spilled last night, cutting the main road out of town towards Cape York for at least the rest of today.
Access has also been cut to the town's biggest banana farm, Swiss Farms, where owner Peter Inderbitzin said almost 30 per cent of his banana trees had been knocked down and the ground was scattered with fallen fruit.
But he is grateful his farm hadn't worn more damage.
"We didn't quite reach our target for getting fruit packed away before it hit, but we've been lucky that most of what we missed is salvageable," he said.
He said he hoped to get a tractor through to the property on Monday to begin "some serious recovery" and several days of clean up "just to get picking started again".
The town itself had avoided any structural damage, he said, and nobody had been injured.
"There's a lot of debris floating around the streets, but nothing we can't handle," he said.
Further north, Rachel Nowlan from the Exchange Hotel, Coen, north west of Cape Melville, said it was likely the town "would be landlocked" and access to and from cut or restricted for up to a week due to a flooded Archer River in the north and flooded connection roads to the south.
She said Coen had become home to most of the Lama Lama indigenous people who lived in Port Stewart, east of Coen, after they were evacuated yesterday, and Coen had felt little effect from Ita minus rain this morning.
Communication has been cut to Hope Vale, with almost no news emerging from the small indigenous community north west of Cooktown since Ita struck the area last
Military helicopters are on standby to help residents in Queensland's cyclone-ravaged far north.
1.05pm: Eight bridges have now been flooded in northern parts of the state as flood waters continue to rise.
The Clohesy River at Bolton Road has been inundated the most, struggling below almost 7.2m of water.
Perhaps the most significant, however, is in the Daintree Village, where the Daintree River has swallowed the bridge under 6.65m of water and is continuing to rise quickly.
Other areas affected include the Mulgrave River – about 43km south of Cairns – which is covering bridges at The Fisheries by almost 2.8m and is still rising.
Myola – about 30km north of Cairns – has 1.4m of water covering bridges there and is also rising.
1pm: THE Cairns Airport is commencing limited operations in and out of Cairns this afternoon.
Different airlines will operate their own schedules, with Jetstar conducting limited operations from 1.50pm and Virgin operating one flight from Cairns to Brisbane at 5.55pm.
Roof torn from home in Cooktown. Picture: Peter Michael Source: CourierMail
Limited services are open inside the terminal.
All domestic and international flights are expected to return to normal through the course of the day tomorrow.
12.45pm: THERE are reports the Bruce Highway may be cut at Edmonton, with a hazard reported in all directions.
The Traffic and Travel Information group is reporting water over the road approximately 300m south of Petersen Road.
12.35pm: Cyclone Ita has been downgraded to a category one, but warnings for flooding and damaging winds remain in place.
Gusts of up to 120km/hr are expected in areas south of Cooktown to Port Douglas this afternoon, while gales of up 100km/hr could extend to places as far north as Cape Flattery and as far south as Cardwell.
Heavy rain continues to batter the coastal towns, with a flood warning issued from Cooktown to Cairns as the tide rises this afternoon.
The storm is expected to gradually contract as it moves southward over the weekend, before moving out to the Coral Sea early next week.
Get Cyclone Ita updates on Facebook
Got a storm picture? SMS it to 0428 258 117
Pictures from Cooktown as dawn breaks. A house demolished next to historic James Cook Museum. Picture: Peter Michael. Source: CourierMail
Cooktown residents will assesses damage caused by Cyclone Ita after it ripped through the town last night.
Severe tropical cyclone Ita has weakened slightly after crossing the far north Queensland coast.
Got a storm picture? SMS it to 0428 258 117.
Note: Earlier reporting has been truncated from this rolling report.
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