Tropical Cyclone Tiffany is expected to regather steam as it passes over the Gulf of Carpentaria, with another region set to feel the storm’s wrath.
Storm watchers are bracing for more chaos in the nation’s far north on Tuesday with Tropical Cyclone Tiffany expected to regather some of its strength as it heads west for the Top End.
Tiffany cast a menacing spectre on Monday as it stirred in the Coral Sea and moved towards North Queensland, but the storm was later downgraded to a tropical low as it made landfall.
The system still belted communities from Cape Yorke down to Cairns with strong gusts and widespread rain, with 175 millimetres recorded at Craiglie near Port Douglas in the 24 hours to 6am on Tuesday.
The Bureau of Meteorology said the system was now grinding its way across the Gulf of Carpentaria, where it is expected to intensify to a Category 2 system before hitting the Northern Territory by Wednesday morning.
Gale-force winds are tipped for Groote Eylandt from early Wednesday with the possibility of destructive winds up to 140 km/h later as the centre of the cyclone approaches.
Gales are not expected on the Northern Territory mainland within the next 24 hours, however gales could develop later on Wednesday between Nhulunbuy and the NT/Qld border.
Heavy rain is likely to develop across parts of the Arnhem and Carpentaria Districts from Wednesday and is expected to cause flooding of low lying areas and river rises.
The update comes as residents of Queensland’s Wide Bay region count the cost of extensive flooding at the weekend.
The Fraser Coast and communities of Maryborough and Gympie were hammered by intense rainfall, with the Maryborough CBD evacuated after flood waters breached the town’s levee.
“We spent Saturday building the levee around the CBD area,” Fraser Coast Mayor George Seymour told 4BC radio.
“Nothing with the levee above the ground went wrong what happened is … something failed – a gate, that shouldn’t have failed, failed in the storm water.
“It meant the floodwater came in under the levy and started to flood the town.”
Disaster assistance grants of up to $180 per person are now available – up to a maximum of $900 for a family of five or more – while flood-affected primary producers and small businesses in the Bundaberg, the Fraser Coast, Gympie, North Burnett and South Burnett regions can access low-interest loans of up to $250,00.
Meanwhile, the search continues for a 14-year-old girl who went missing when the car she was travelling in was swept away in floodwater on Saturday.
The incident happened near Booubyjan, about 90 kilometres north-west of Gympie.
Originally published as Tropical Cyclone Tiffany set to ‘reintensify’ over Gulf as wild weather moves towards the NT
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