Cyclone Ita weakens to category two storm after crossing coast
Queensland Police Inspector Kevin Gutteridge has been appointed as the state's disaster recovery co-ordinator in the wake of Cyclone Ita, Queensland Premier Campbell Newman says.
Mr Gutteridge, based in Bundaberg, will start work in far north Queensland on Tuesday, Mr Newman announced on Saturday afternoon.
He said Mr Gutteridge was well known in the Burnett region for his efforts to counter the effects of flooding in the Bundaberg region last year and had been a familiar face in the investigation into the kidnapping of toddler Chloe Campbell in Childers.
Ita is unlikely to drop below cyclone strength despite making landfall more than 19 hours ago, the Bureau of Meteorology has warned.
A cyclone warning issued at 5pm (AEST) shows Ita will remain at category one strength and will head out into the Coral Sea near Innisfail in the early hours of Sunday morning.
The bureau predicts Ita will remain at category one strength at least until 5pm (AEST) on Monday on a south-easterly track that runs roughly parallel with the Queensland coast.
Earlier, the Queensland premier said he would be postponing a planned visit to cyclone-hit Cooktown as a major road is cut off and strong winds make helicopter travel unsafe.
Campbell Newman had earlier promised to travel from Cairns on Saturday afternoon to see how Cyclone Ita had uprooted trees and destroyed a pub in the coastal community north of the Daintree National Park.
But a spokesman for the premier told AAP that Mr Newman would postpone his visit until Sunday.
"We're now not planning on doing it until it's safe," he said.
About 700 homes in Cooktown are still without power but mobile phone services are working.
Three children and their parents were rescued from fast-flowing floodwaters in the cyclone-battered town.
"Great work by QFES Swiftwater & SES floodboat crews! 2 adults & 3 children rescued from floodwaters 10km sth of #Cooktown. #TCIta," Queensland Fire and Emergency Services commissioner Lee Johnson tweeted.
Mr Newman has urged people in north Queensland to take no chances as heavy rains continue to lash the region and flood warnings are in place.
"There is a report in the last hour and a half of a swift water rescue being undertaken at a crossing about 10 kilometres to the west-southwest of Cooktown," he told reporters on Saturday.
"I urge people again to play it safe. Stay at home, stay in shelter until this is properly over."
No injuries or deaths have been reported as a result of tropical cyclone Ita, and Mr Newman wants to keep it that way.
"I remind people that if it's flooded, forget it," he said.
A helicopter will need to be sent to a small far north Queensland community that remains cut off from landline and mobile phone communications following Cyclone Ita.
Police radio frequencies remain the only form of communication in the indigenous township of Hope Vale, north of Cooktown, where about 300 people are staying in an evacuation centre.
Queensland Premier Campbell Newman said a damaged telecommunications tower had left the town of about 1500 people isolated, after Ita made landfall near Hope Vale on Friday night.
Flights in and out of Cairns Airport have been halted as Ita continues to buffet the far north.
There were no passenger flights into or out of Cairns Airport on Saturday morning because of the cyclone, a spokeswoman for the airport said in a statement.
"People should only come to the airport if their flights are confirmed by the airline," the spokeswoman said.
Ita crossed the coast near Cape Flattery about 9pm on Friday as a category four cyclone. It has been downgraded to a category two.
The weather bureau has cyclone warnings current for coastal areas from Cape Melville to Cardwell, including Cooktown, Port Douglas and Cairns, and extending inland to areas including Mareeba and Chillagoe.
Coastal residents south of Cooktown to Cairns, including Port Douglas, are also being warned of a storm tide.
Heavy rain, which the bureau warns may lead to flash flooding, is buffeting parts of the Peninsula, North Tropical Coast and Tablelands districts.
The bureau says the rain should gradually contract southwards with the system over the weekend.
Damage assessed
Roofs were ripped from at least two homes and a pub after fierce winds tore through the coastal community overnight on Friday.
Large trees have been uprooted and branches, fence posts and snapped powerlines lay strewn across roads.
Cooktown Mayor Peter Scott says he's feeling relieved as he had expected to wake up to widespread devastation.
"There's a lot of vegetation on the road and we've unfortunately seen some buildings damaged," he told AAP.
"But there hasn't been a lot of structural damage."
Local woman Diana Spiker spent the morning walking her dog and assessing the damage around the town.
She expected to find things looking much worse.
"They were talking about a category five at one stage so I thought there would have been a lot more damage," she told AAP.
Standing near fallen trees and broken powerlines, Ms Spiker described the storm as surreal and said she spent a sleepless night hunkered down in her home with friends.
Most residents have been without power since late Friday afternoon.
Authorities had been warning Ita could be the worst cyclone to hit Queensland since Yasi three years ago.
Ita was a category five as it approached the Queensland coast, but had been downgraded to a four as it crossed near Cape Flattery about 9pm (AEST) on Friday, the Bureau of Meteorology (BoM) said.
By midnight, Ita had been downgraded to category three, with wind gusts up to 117km/h recorded in Cooktown just after midnight. The cyclone has been downgraded to a category two as it tracks south across the state.
The danger isn't over, with cyclone warnings still current for coastal areas from Cape Melville to Cardwell including Cooktown, Port Douglas and Cairns, and extending inland to areas including Mareeba and Chillagoe.
BoM said destructive winds of up to 130km/h were possible between Cape Tribulation and Port Douglas "for a brief period this morning".
Gales with wind gusts of up to 110km/h were possible between Cape Melville and Port Douglas, as well as in areas including Mareeba later today and as far south as Innisfail, Chillagoe and Cardwell this evening.
BoM warned coastal residents between Cooktown and Cairns of a storm tide this morning, and said heavy rain could lead to flash flooding in parts of the Peninsula, North Tropical Coast and Tablelands districts.
Daryl Camp from Emergency Management Queensland said crews were assessing the damage in Cooktown.
He said it would be safe for people to leave their houses and shelters when the winds died down about 9am or 10am.
"But we'll have to wait and see what Ita has done," he said.
Flash flooding fears
Bureau of Meteorology senior forecast Alasdair Hainsworth says Ita has already packed a real punch.
"Certainly very destructive winds and I emphasise that this is a very destructive and dangerous tropical cyclone," he said.
The system is expected to gradually weaken as it moves inland but torrential rain is likely to cause widespread flash flooding.
Cook Shire Mayor Peter Scott says there have been reports of damage in the Cooktown area.
"It is roaring outside - it is becoming more and more constant and people lost a roof off their house in Helen Street - we just don't know until tomorrow," he said on Friday night.
A cyclone warning is current for coastal areas from Cape Melville to Cardwell, including Cooktown, Port Douglas and Cairns, and extending inland to areas including Laura, Mareeba and Chillagoe.
Cooktown's cyclone shelter has been locked down and more than 30,000 Cairns residents were urged to evacuate because of a potential storm surge threat.
Buildings in Cooktown have lost power and the emergency shelter has switched to its back-up generator.
Metal grates are across the main entrances at Cooktown's emergency shelter, with around 300 people shut inside until the storm threat passes.
Premier Campbell Newman says it is a dangerous situation.
"It is still a destructive cyclone which will bring strong winds," he said.
Mr Newman says crews are on standby to fly to the region to help in the recovery effort, depending on the weather conditions and the state of the airport.
Community Recovery Minister David Crisafulli is urging people to stay calm.
"People need to know that there are experts waiting to help them through this. Do the little things right and we'll all get through this," he said.
Cooktown residents have been told to expect major damage to homes and other buildings.
They have been told they could be in the town's emergency shelter for up to 48 hours.
A small number of people are sheltering in other buildings in Cooktown but the majority are staying in their homes.
Authorities say many of Cooktown's older buildings could be damaged by this storm and they are preparing for a large scale clean-up.
Councillor Scott says Ita's wind speeds could have catastrophic results.
"Anything over 80kph is dangerous, will put a piece of tin through you, chop your head off," he said.
Cooktown resident Doreen Jones relocated to the town's cyclone shelter on Friday morning.
"It scared me because I'm in an old people's home - like in my own flat, and I get heaps of trees in front of my place and it's real scary," she said.
"My daughter's [also] there with my grandson."
Ergon Energy says crews have gone into lockdown and no faults will be repaired until it is safe.
Queensland Community Recovery Minister David Crisafulli says 12 members of the Reconstruction Authority are on the ground in Cairns, south of Cooktown.
"I say to everyone you will not be forgotten. In the same way that we rebuilt Bundaberg in record time, we will rebuild after this," he said.
