Cyclone Marcia has ploughed ashore with wind gusts that peaked at 285km/h, battering towns along the Capricornia coast, as Arnhem Land residents emerge from shelters to assess the damage from Cyclone Lam.
AAP reporter Nathan Paull says the situation in the coastal town of Yeppoon is deteriorating rapidly, with plenty of damage to buildings along the waterfront thoroughfare called The Strand.
"The roller doors have just blown off our hotel and the roof is coming off the surf club across the road," he said.
The damage is only expected to escalate as the core of the cyclone passes over the town around 11.15am (AEST).
The manager of the Bayview Tower Motel, Vikki Smith, who has only lived in Queensland for five years, said the cyclone was a wild experience.
"I've just seen the surf club roof fly off and the paint at the face of our building here, you can see that's all just bubbling and flying off," she said.
"It's just a mad storm."
Authorities are monitoring the progress of a cruise ship, Royal Caribbean's Rhapsody of the Seas, which is in the Coral Sea between Yeppoon and Mackay on its way from Sydney to Cairns.
At 11am (AEST), Marcia had wound down to category four and was over land, about 40km northwest of Yeppoon and heading south at 20km/h. It had sustained winds of 175km/h and gusts to 250km/h.
In the remote NT settlement of Ramingining, which took a direct hit from category four Cyclone Lam, residents were out checking damage after a long night.
No one has so far been reported injured, the rain is easing and the sky clearing, according clinic manager Rhona Golsby-Smith.
Lam crossed the coast between Milingimbi and Elcho Island around 2am (CST) and passed right over the town, where more than 900 people sheltered.
"Everyone's safe, that's the main thing," she told AAP.
"There's tree damage, fence damage, power lines are down, there are roofs with trees on them, but no major damage to houses. I've got a coconut tree on my roof."
As of 10am, Lam had devolved to a category two storm with gusts to 155km/h. It was 90km north-northeast of Bulman and heading southwest at 14km/h, dumping heavy rainfall across the Top End.
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