Flooding from ex-cyclone Nora in Qld

Torrential rain from ex-cyclone Nora has flooded parts of Cairns and Port Douglas after the storm hit the Gulf town of Pormpuraaw.

Ex-cyclone Nora

Torrential rain from ex-cyclone Nora has flooded parts of Cairns and Port Douglas. (AAP) Source: AAP

Cairns and Port Douglas are mopping up after torrential rain from ex-cyclone Nora caused flash flooding in Queensland's far north.

Low lying parts of Cairns have flooded, and in the tourist town of Port Douglas water has crept up to the doors of some holiday apartments.

Landslides and debris also closed roads in the region, including the Captain Cook Highway north of Cairns.

Hundreds of kilometres to the west, remote communities on Cape York Peninsula's western coast are also cleaning up after Nora made landfall as a category three storm early on Sunday.

The storm has since weakened to a low pressure system and is not expected to reform into a cyclone, even if it heads back out over the Gulf of Carpentaria.

Severe weather warnings are in place for Cairns and surrounding communities, and for parts of the Gulf country, between Burketown and Pormpuraaw, with more heavy rain and damaging winds expected.

The Bureau of Meterorology said Cairns received more than 260mm in 24 hours, with some areas to the north of the city recording more than 500 millimetres.

The SES says it has dealt with more than 100 calls for help in the Cairns and Port Douglas areas, where low-lying areas went under amid the deluge.

In Cairns, a shopping centre car park flooded, leaving cars bobbing in the water. Low-lying parts of the CBD also went under.

The wild weather has caused a mass of debris and land slips that closed roads throughout the region, including the Captain Cook Highway north of Cairns.

In Port Douglas, some holiday makers said water rose as far as the doorsteps of their apartments.

In the Gulf community of Pormpuraaw, which was hit hard as Nora made landfall, Ergon Energy is working hard to restore power to 230 homes.

But the work could be slow, given repair crews and equipment must be flown in to the remote community.

Seven Queensland schools have been closed, including Burketown, Daintree, Karumba, Kowanyama, Miallo, Pormpuraaw and Wonga Beach state schools.

On Monday morning, the low pressure system that was Cyclone Nora was almost stationary, sitting over the land between the Gilbert River Mouth and Karumba on the Gulf coast.

The system could move back out over the water on Tuesday, but conditions in the Gulf of Carpentaria are not considered favourable enough to allow the low to reform into a cyclone.


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3 min read

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Updated

By Justin Sungil Park

Source: AAP




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