Premier Campbell Newman will fly to Townsville as a massive tropical storm barrels towards the north Queensland city.
Mr Newman is expected to board a flight to the city on Thursday afternoon, where he'll be briefed on the storm, which could bring dangerous storm tides, heavy rain and storm gusts of up to 120km/hr.
"I want to show my solidarity with people of far north Queensland and I want to make sure that the government is getting the right feedback and information about the situation," the premier told reporters in Brisbane.
A cyclone warning remains current for coastal and island communities from Cardwell to St Lawrence.
A tropical low is about 265km northeast of Townsville, the Bureau of Meteorology (BoM) has advised.
It is gathering speed, moving at 16km/h towards the coast in a southwest direction and is expected to form a category one cyclone before it makes landfall between Lucinda and Proserpine early on Friday morning.
The Queensland Fire and Emergency Services (QFES) says people in the area should be battening down.
Commissioner Lee Johnson said residents, unless told to evacuate, should seek shelter in their homes until the storm has passed.
In the event of an evacuation order, residents should seek shelter with family or friends who lived further inland or on higher ground, he said.