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Former Tropical Cyclone Kirrily has left a trail of destruction as it moves inland, issuing new warnings of flash flooding in central and western Queensland.
The powerful cyclone was downgraded to a tropical low after crossing the coast northwest of Townsville as one of the strongest systems in the north.
Tens of thousands of homes were without electricity on Friday morning and the Bureau of Meteorology said the system could still bring strong winds and heavy rain despite no longer being categorized as a cyclone.
“It will carry a lot of that moisture and gradually push it through central and then western Queensland,” said senior meteorologist Miriam Bradbury.
Kirrily approached the coast on Thursday night as a severe category three system, with wind gusts of up to 170 km/h.
Tropical Cyclone Kirrily hits the coast near Townsville. Image: delivered/bill of materials
Included Tropical Cyclone Kirrily crosses the coast near Townsville as a Category 3 system
The intensity dropped to a category two just before it made landfall around 10 p.m. and decreased to a category one system after it moved inland, with maximum winds of 75 mph around midnight.
“It was more of a wind event than a rain event,” Ms Bradbury told ABC News on Friday morning.
“The rainfall total was only 50 to 70mm, but there was a lot of wind damage, with a lot of trees down and debris on the roads and things like that.”
Offshore reefs recorded peak gusts of up to 140 km/h with sustained winds above 116 km/h. Closer to the coast, the highest gusts were 107km/h at Alva Beach and 91km/h around the Townsville area.
More than 40,000 homes were without power as the cyclone raged along the coast, the majority in Townsville. Electricity supplier Ergon said it would only start properly assessing the damage on Friday morning.
A map shows about 50 separate areas of Townsville without power, including much of the CBD
The weather system moved inland from Friday morning (pictured), leaving a trail of destruction and fresh warnings from the Bureau of Meteorology of dangerous flash flooding.
Kirrily was about 170km west-southwest of Townsville and 125km west-northwest of Charters Towers and continued south-west at around 4am on Friday at a speed of 24km/h.
Boats are reported to be breaking free from their moorings and becoming stranded along the waterfront in Townsville.
In meteorological terms, it is believed to be the strongest cyclone to hit northern Queensland since Cyclone Althea devastated the region in 1971.
The rapidly changing system lingered in the Coral Sea for days, before a tropical low eventually developed into Cyclone Kirrily on Wednesday. It was then upgraded to category two on Thursday morning, but took just five hours to reach category three status.
North Queensland was bunkered at 2pm AEST on Thursday when the winds intensified.
Townsville airport and more than 120 schools were closed and hundreds of emergency services were on standby.
Many Australia Day ceremonies planned for Friday were cancelled, while Queensland Rail services north of Rockhampton were suspended.
A severe weather warning was issued for communities surrounding the system on Friday morning, with intense rainfall forecast that could lead to ‘life-threatening’ flash flooding in some areas.
The Bureau said heavy rainfall that could lead to flash flooding is occurring in northern parts of the Northern Goldfields and Upper Flinders, the North Tropical Coast and the Herbert and Lower Burdekin districts.
Intense rain is forecast to spread further inland towards Richmond and into northern parts of the Central West district on Friday evening or early Saturday morning.
A six-hour precipitation total of between 80 and 120 mm is likely, with 24-hour totals of up to 180 mm, especially on the northern flank of the tropical low.
Locally intense, which could lead to dangerous and life-threatening flash flooding, is also possible on the northern flank of the tropical low.