Cairns may face more wild weather after cyclone

Category 1 cyclone Tasha passed south of Cairns in the early hours of Xmas day.  There were some brief intense winds and plenty of rain with 279mm recorded in Goldsborough Valley overnight.  Coastal Queensland is on alert for more heavy weather for the rest of the week.

Read more about Cairns Cyclones and Cairns Weather.

Week of wild weather ahead

• David Murray and Daniel Knowles
• From: The Sunday Mail (Qld)
• December 25, 2010 5:00PM

INLAND SEA: Traffic controller Katrina Oxley keeps watch over the rising waters at Cattle Creek near Ingham on the Bruce Highway. Pic Peter Wallis Source: The Sunday Mail (Qld)

WILD weather is expected to lash Queensland for the next week as residents in the state's north mop up from the first cyclone of the season.

Category one Cyclone Tasha crossed the coast south of Cairns at 5.30am Christmas Day, bringing drenching rain and winds of up to 100km/h.

Power was cut to 7000 homes and the State Emergency Service responded to 140 calls for help for cyclone-related damage.

Five bushwalkers were missing in two groups on Hinchinbrook Island, with the weather holding up attempts to launch a search.

Innisfail residents were warned to stay indoors because of fallen power lines and uprooted trees across roads, and 16 Gordonvale homes were flooded.

The cyclone was downgraded to a low, but across the state heavy rain is predicted to cause havoc in coming days.

Festive travel plans are in jeopardy as authorities warn of the dangers of flash flooding and urge motorists to check on road closures.

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Emergency Services Minister Neil Roberts said there were drenched conditions ahead for the next week and called for ``patience and caution''.

``Queenslanders from the tip of Cape York right through to the Gold Coast and inland can expect very heavy rain, thunderstorms and localised flooding and roads cuts,'' Mr Roberts said.

The weather bureau is now monitoring a low brewing in the Gulf of Carpentaria that could develop into a new cyclone.

Coastal communities south of Cairns are spending Christmas Day without power as they mop up and clear trees brought down by the Cyclone.

Residents in Russell Heads and Bramston Beach as well as Deeral further inland believe they were in the path of Tasha as she crossed the coast about 5.30am.

The cyclone awakened memories of Cyclone Larry that crossed the coast close to Tasha's landfall in 2006, devastating the area with its Category Four winds of up to 240km/h.

Russell Heads resident Ian Jensen believed the eye of the Category One cyclone passed over the small holiday hamlet that is squeezed between the Russell River and a sand beach.

He said Tasha blew for about an hour, fortunately much shorter than Larry's devastating onslaught.

Mr Jensen said residents lost power and were relying on generators and barbecues to cook their Christmas lunch but were grateful they had escaped serious damage.

``It blew a few trees down,'' Mr Jensen said.

``The power's out and I've got a generator going.''

He said Russell Heads usually filled up with families using their beach houses for Christmas but the bad weather kept most away this year.

The township can only be reached by boat.

``There's hardly anyone here - there's only five or so people.

``Luckily I got a Webber for Christmas - we've got Christmas cooking on that.''

Further south, Bramston Beach resident Lena Kelly said heavy rain and strong winds had forced the beachside village to cancel their annual Christmas Eve parade.

She said campers were sheltering in the caravan park, waiting for the Russell River level to drop low enough for the road to the highway to reopen.

She said some residents had been taken by surprise but most had generators and were prepared for the cyclone season.

``We were caught a bit unawares by the cyclone,'' Mrs Kelly said.

``It was very windy.

``There's trees all over the place.''

Mrs Kelly said the festive parade organisers were hoping the weather would clear up to run the event on New Years Eve.

On the banks of the Mulgrave River, Deeral Boat Storage caretaker Bill McCulloch said he lost the roof of his biggest shed.

Speaking hours after the blow, Mr McCulloch said the wind had stripped every leaf from surrounding trees.

``It was shocking,'' Mr McCulloch said.

``It was sharp and violent for about three-quarters of an hour.

``There's no limbs off trees but it blew all the leaves off.''