Tropical Cyclone Koji is expected to make landfall within hours, as North Queensland residents brace for heavy rain and destructive winds.
The Bureau of Meteorology shows the category 1 system is currently south-east of Townsville and moving south at 21 kilometres an hour.
It is expected to cross the coast between Ayr and Bowen in the next few hours.
The system was declared a cyclone on Saturday evening and was expected to cross as a category 2 storm. It was downgraded to category 1 in the early hours of Sunday morning.
While warnings have been cancelled for Townsville, strong winds with gusts of up to 100 kilometres an hour have been recorded over the Whitsunday Islands.
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The system will weaken rapidly after crossing, but heavy rain with the potential to cause flash flooding is expected throughout the region and into Monday.
“We can see a lot of rainfall spiralling around the system,” said meteorologist Dean Narramore. “But it’s a very lopsided system, with most of the heaviest rainfall near and well south of Tropical Cyclone Koji.
“And that’s why we’re particularly concerned about our communities from around the Ayr – and particularly Bowen – area, down through the Whitsundays, and down into the central coast and inland.”
