Residents in North Queensland bracing for severe weather

Strong winds are expected to develop along parts of the far North Queensland coast as tropical cyclone Jasper edges closer.

Transcript

00:00 I'm here at the Cairns Marina and it's a very eerie sight.

00:05 Normally there's hundreds of boats moored behind me.

00:09 The owners have moved them all into various inlets and creeks in order to protect them

00:14 against what's expected to be a rather large storm surge this afternoon.

00:19 In terms of the weather, we've had a sprinkling of rain and the occasional gust of wind, but

00:23 certainly nothing significant at the moment.

00:26 Now the Weather Bureau says that the winds are expected to start picking up later on

00:31 this afternoon.

00:32 Cyclone Jasper is expected to cross the coast north of Cairns, potentially around that Port

00:37 Douglas area at around noon tomorrow.

00:40 Here's what the Weather Bureau had to say a short time ago.

00:44 We now also have the mention of destructive winds on our tropical cyclone bulletin and

00:49 those destructive winds could develop between Woodgill, Woodgill and Innisfail from tomorrow

00:54 morning as that cyclone core nears the coast.

00:58 Corrina, Cairns is expected to receive around half a metre of rain over the next couple

01:04 of days.

01:06 Authorities are concerned about the potential of a storm surge.

01:10 Now the Cairns District Disaster Group is warning residents in that red storm surge

01:15 zone that includes homes and hotels along the Cairns Esplanade to have a plan to go

01:21 elsewhere.

01:23 Authorities are very concerned about this possible storm surge which basically sees

01:27 coastal water rise high above high tide levels and it can push large amounts of water inland.

01:35 Now evacuation centres are being set up across far north Queensland.

01:39 We know Ergon Energy staff have been deployed to Rockhampton.

01:43 There's around 400 extra staff ready to assist with power outages.

01:48 We've already been told that that will happen regardless of where this storm hits.

01:53 We will lose power.

01:55 Now residents across Cairns were also sent a text message yesterday urging them to prepare

01:59 for isolation.

02:01 We've seen supermarket shelves empty quite rapidly.

02:05 We spoke to the local IGA yesterday and they said that generally shoppers are being well

02:10 behaved but they are being urged to only buy what is necessary to get them through the

02:15 next couple of days and save some food from other people.

02:20 The Cairns Airport is still operating but that is expected to change a little bit later

02:25 on today.

02:26 We know James Cook University's campus has closed and the Cairns Hospital has postponed

02:31 all elective surgeries.

02:33 [BLANK_AUDIO]