North Queensland battens down for Cyclone Yasi's fury

FLOOD-hit communities from Cooktown to Hervey Bay have been warned to expect significant rain and destructive winds as Cyclone Yasi bears down on an already sodden state.

Weather bureau meteorologist Gordon Banks rated the developing system off Fiji as very dangerous.

Mr Banks said it would move slowly inland, a situation that tended to bring flood rains, as opposed to Anthony which would dissipate fairly rapidly.

"It's developing strongly near Vanuatu and we don't expect it to lose too much strength as it moves towards the coast," Mr Banks said.

"If it is as strong as the models suggest, category three or better, heavy rain could potentially affect the interior on Friday, Saturday and Sunday."

Mr Banks said the cyclone was expected to come ashore in the north, but because it was so early in its development, nowhere between Princess Charlotte Bay on Cape York and Fraser Island in the southeast could be ruled out.

Premier Anna Bligh yesterday insisted emergency services were ready, saying "we are not battle weary, we are battle ready".

"Yes we have come through a very difficult time and our emergency resources have certainly been tested in the last couple of weeks," she said.

"They have however, I want to reassure people, had ample opportunity to restore themselves and replenish their supplies."

Bowen local Barry Locke said three boats sank outside the marina even before Cyclone Anthony was due to reach land.

The railway worker said he watched as one sank without a trace as wild winds tore at the seafront of the north Queensland town.

"That is not the scary part," he said. "This cyclone is just the dress rehearsal for the other big one out there. He is the one to worry about."

Cyclone-hardened veterans taped up houses, battened down sheds, and relocated elderly residents ahead of Anthony last night, with Yasi on the way.

Keen surfers spent six hours in the "once-in-a-year" cyclonic swell at Bowen's Horseshoe Bay, a rare phenomenon in the tropics.

Disaster officials in Bowen fear a cyclonic downpour of more than 100mm of rain will flood the town, and cut it off to the north and south.

Mayor Mike Brunker said a deluge would push the saturated Don River over the edge.

"Normally we would not get out of bed for a category two cyclone," he said.

"But tensions are high after the catastrophic flooding statewide."

Spectacular cloud formations formed over the town as heavy rain and wind squalls battered the coast about 6pm picking up in intensity ahead of the predicted early morning strike.

Caravan park managers staked down vans with heavy chains and some threw outdoor furniture into the pool to "prevent them becoming flying missiles" under winds of up to 100km/h.

"We are right in the thick of it," Don Brown, 61, of the seafront Bowen Big 4 caravan park, said last night. "The eye is somewhere above us.

"We're told the best place for the deck chairs is under water in the pool."

Lone park occupant Troy Jackson said he had helped mates tie down a half-finished shed, filled his runabout boat with water and was going to sit out the storm with a few rums and beers.

"This one is mostly wind and fizzle," the electrician said. "It is the one behind it that has the big stick."

Rockhampton Mayor Brad Carter said he had great concerns the Fiji storm could become a large rain depression. If it hit the Fitzroy catchment, it could have a major impact on his city, still recovering from flooding that started last month.

The Abbot and Hay Point coal terminals, Townsville ferries and coastal train services closed yesterday.

Ms Bligh said the Fiji storm, possibly a category four cyclone, carried great threat.

"We are looking at not only a potentially damaging cyclone but more, very heavy rainfall, which depending on where it falls, could fall into river catchments and cause further flooding beyond the cyclone," Ms Bligh said.

Weather bureau regional director Jim Davidson said modelling had repeatedly shown the storm hitting the coast.

"It is not inevitable but there is a good likelihood that we will see a fairly large system on the Queensland coast by Thursday," he said.

"Being so far from the Queensland coast and quite a few days ahead we are playing it safe I guess."