Cyclone watch for far north Queensland

Authorities in Queensland are continuing to monitor a tropical low in the Gulf of Carpentaria which is now the subject of a cyclone warning.
The Cyclone Watch is now current for coastal and island communities from Port McArthur in the Northern Territory to Thursday Island.

The low is expected to drift slowly east over gulf waters and may develop into a
Tropical Cyclone on Sunday afternoon.
The Bureau of Meteorology advises that strong winds have already caused sea levels
to rise above the high water mark during high tide on Saturday afternoon, and the
levels are still likely to further rise on Sunday afternoon as the winds and waves
increase overnight and into Sunday.
Coastal residents between the Torres Strait Islands and Mornington Island are
specifically warned of the dangerous storm tide as the monsoon winds increase.
"People living in the areas likely to be affected by this sea flooding should take
measures to protect their property as much as possible and be prepared to follow
instructions regarding evacuation of the area if advised to do so by the
authorities," a spokeswoman for Emergency Management Queensland said.
"Residents near coastal regions and adjacent inland areas north of about Kowanyama
on Cape York are also advised that damaging wind gusts up to about 100km/h in rain
squalls are likely to develop overnight and through Sunday," she said.
Rain is also likely to affect communities between Cooktown and Mackay until the
middle of next week.
"The Emergency Management Queensland Rescue Helicopter has spent today doing food
and fuel drops to areas isolated due to flooding in north-western Queensland," the
spokeswoman said.
"Today they did fuel drops at a mine site near Mt Isa before heading to the Julia
Creek region to drop food supplies to several stations."
Flood warnings remain current for the Diamantina, Georgina, Burke, Nicholson,
Cloncurry, Albert, Leichhardt and Flinders River.
The Bureau of Meteorology has also issued a severe thunderstorm warning for Saturday
for areas in south-west Queensland including Thargomindah, Cunnamulla, Quilpie,
Eromanga, Mount Margaret and Mt Howitt.