The mayor of a remote far north Queensland community says Cyclone Trevor was “ferocious” and the worst he has endured.
The cyclone made landfall just south of Lockhart River as a category three storm late on March 20, dumping more than 200mm of rain in just six hours and bringing wind gusts of more than 130km/h.
It has since weakened to a category one system and is expected to pass just north of Aurukun on the west coast of Cape York before re-intensifying into a category four storm as it pushes towards the Northern Territory.
Lockhart River Mayor Wayne Butcher said it was a difficult night.
“This was probably the worst one ... this one basically sat near the community and hounded us for hours.
“I’ve got a timber house and I could feel it shaking.”
Lockhart River resident Hannah Brown posted on Facebook that they had spent the evening “getting absolutely smashed.”
“We’re okay at the Lockhart River aerodrome, lots of destruction after a horrid night,” she wrote.
Cr Butcher said he would spend the morning in the community assessing the damage with police and other emergency crews.
He said initial reports suggested no major infrastructure damage.
‘We’ve got a few trees across houses and a few sheds have gone flying,” he said.
The cyclone warning for the east coast has since been cancelled, but the danger is not entirely over.
Jess Gardner from the Bureau of Meteorology has warned flooding will be a high risk across the cape over the coming days.
“We’re going to see large falls right up to next Friday with chances of flash flooding,” she told AAP.
“It will be very dangerous.”
A moderate flood warning remains in place for the Daintree River, with a general flood warning for the Mossman River.
Roads and schools remain closed across the cape and residents are warned not to risk driving on flooded roads.
