A new Category 3 cyclone is set to hit Australia and Queensland again
Sylvie Claire / January 25, 2024
A category three cyclone is expected to hit Australia's east coast on Tuesday evening or Wednesday morning, between the towns of Airlie Beach and Innisfail, more than 1,000 kilometers north of Brisbane, capital of the state of Queensland.
Winds of up to 120 kilometers per hour are expected in the popular tourist destination of the Whitsunday Islands, and up to 150 kilometers per hour inland. The cyclone will be accompanied by heavy rain, which could cause flooding, particularly in more populated towns such as Townsville, Mackay and Rockhampton.
Residents are expected to bear the brunt of Cyclone Kirrily over the next 24 to 48 hours, according to the Australian Bureau of Meteorology. They are advised to stock up on enough petrol and non-perishable foodstuffs to last three days, and to charge their phones.
The coast of Queensland, a state of 5 million inhabitants, was already hard hit at the end of the year by Cyclone Jasper, which swept across the north of the territory. Record flooding followed, at a time of year marked by monsoon rains in northern Australia.
Queensland Premier Steven Miles estimates that the bill associated with the cyclone and subsequent storms will already climb to several billion Australian dollars. "And we're expecting a repeat of both events over the weekend, so that could well double the impact of these natural disasters. »
He expects waterspouts, which will hit localities that have already been affected by such weather events recently, as well as localized flooding and swollen rivers.