Tropical Cyclone Narelle batters northeast Australia

By Renju Jose

SYDNEY, March 20 (Reuters) – Severe tropical Cyclone Narelle lashed Australia’s northeast coast on Friday, bringing destructive winds, heavy rain and power outages as authorities urged residents to remain indoors and brace for significant damage.

Cyclone Narelle made landfall in remote parts of the Far North Queensland region as a category four system, one rung below the strongest category five, with winds reaching about 195 kph (120 mph), authorities said.

“There is a lot of rain in this system, and as it moves it will be hard and fast,” Queensland Premier David Crisafulli told a press conference.

“I don’t want to sugarcoat this, we are going to experience loss of electricity and the damage is likely to be significant with a system of this size.”

Crisafulli said heavy rainfall could trigger flash flooding, and emergency crews were visiting homes in vulnerable communities on Friday to alert residents. Helicopters were also deployed to survey high-risk areas ahead of the cyclone’s arrival.

Rescue and response teams, including power crews, health workers and ambulances, were already positioned to begin recovery efforts when conditions ease, Crisafulli said.

“But right now the message to people is to stay where you are … as the system has only just started to cross the coast,” he said.

Rio Tinto has temporarily shut down its two bauxite mines, Amrun and Andoom, in northern Queensland, Bloomberg News reported, citing people familiar with the matter. Those mines produce about 30 million metric tons of bauxite a year.

In a statement, Rio said the company had activated its cyclone response plans.

“We are focused on making sure our people are safe and our operations are secure. We will continue to closely monitor the situation and take all necessary precautions,” Rio said.

Narelle made landfall about 550 km (340 miles) north of Cairns, the gateway to Far North Queensland and the Great Barrier Reef.

Some residents evacuated to community centres before the cyclone struck, with storm warnings extending across a 600-km (370-mile) stretch of coast.

Lucretia Huen, whose family is at the Wellbeing Centre in the rural town of Coen, told ABC News that water supplies had been cut, with people relying on stocks of bottled water. 

“Emotions are running high especially with no water and power but everyone is on alert,” Huen said.

The Bureau of Meteorology said the cyclone was expected to weaken as it moves west across the Cape York Peninsula over the next 18 hours.

The warm waters in the Gulf of Carpentaria, however, will help the storm to strengthen again into a severe tropical cyclone before impacting the Northern Territory on Saturday, forecaster Angus Hines said.

(Reporting by Renju Jose in Sydney; Editing by Stephen Coates, Lincoln Feast and Tom Hogue)