The remote and sparsely populated tip of far north Queensland prepared on Thursday for a cyclone as ferocious as its communities had experienced in generations.
In the 24 hours before its expected impact mid-morning on Friday, Cyclone Narelle intensified to category 5 and sped up as it moved across the Coral Sea towards the coastline.
Queensland Premier David Crisafulli said in a briefing the storm would bring a series of challenges including strong wind, the potential for storm surge, heavy rainfall, and flash flooding.
Crisafulli urged anyone living between Cape Tribulation and Lockhart River to take the “rare” and “large” event seriously.
“If a category 5 system crosses the coast in this location, it’ll be the first time that’s happened in over 100 years,” he said.
“And if a category 5 system crosses the Queensland coast, it’ll be just the fourth time that’s happened in half a century.”
On Thursday, the army was already on standby, as were swift water rescue crews.
Hundreds of energy workers were also on the ground, with helicopters, barges and generators in position to keep electricity infrastructure online “as best we can”, the premier said.
Despite the severity of the threat, he said he trusted that Queenslanders would “do the right thing” and look out for their neighbours.
“I assure you we can get through it, if communities take it seriously, if they look out for each other, if they prepare well now, if they heed advice,” he said.
“I have every faith that we’ll get through it, and then we move on to a fulsome recovery.”
The largest centre in Narelle’s predicted path was the township of Coen, with a population of less than 400 residents, most of whom were Indigenous.
Robyn Holmes, the mayor of Cook Shire Council, said Coen’s community was resilient.
“Our communities have strong collective experience in managing wet season events, so this is nothing new. The intensity is just escalated,” she said.
Police were stationed in Coen and the towns of Cooktown, Lockhart River, Wujal Wujal and Laura, where they said the majority of people were sheltering.
Other locations including Port Stewart and the resort on Lizard Island had been evacuated.
The storm formed in the Coral Sea between Queensland’s east coast and Vanuatu, and was upgraded to tropical cyclone status on Tuesday afternoon.
It was expected to weaken as it crossed Queensland, but to strengthen to cyclone status again as it moved west over the Gulf of Carpentaria towards the Northern Territory.
The Bureau of Meteorology warned Narelle’s impact could coincide with peak tides, flooding the coast and filling sodden river catchments further inland.
Earlier this week, the state’s disaster co-ordinator Chris Stream urged far north Queenslanders not to be complacent about the dangers of cyclonic winds.
“This is not the opportunity for you to be outside during the cyclone, getting that TikTok moment – do not do it,” he said.
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