State braces as cyclone looms but ‘she’ll be right’

Like many laid-back locals, Luke Pote often doesn’t follow weather advisories in his remote community.

But that looks set to change as one of the biggest cyclones in recent memory heads towards Queensland’s far north.

Tropical Cyclone Narelle could impact the coast as a dangerous category five system early Friday, causing winds to exceed 250 km/h.

Gusty winds of up to 155km/h are expected to begin pummeling the far north from Thursday.

Cooktown, north of Cairns, seems to have become the focus of the monster system after Coen ventured further north.

But for now, it’s business as usual for Mr. Pote, owner of Cooktown Orchid Travelers Park, one of the town’s only grocery stores.

“We’ve got loads of beer, food and fuel; we’re ready now,” Mr Pote told AAP on Wednesday.

“We don’t worry about it until it’s on our doorstep. There’s nothing you can do about it anyway.

“The generators are ready to go; we plan for the rainy season every year. We stock up on potatoes and pumpkins.”

Mr Pote was shocked to learn that Narelle was expected to reach category five.

“Really? Wow. I try not to watch the weather forecast, but okay. He’ll be right,” he said.

“To be honest, it hasn’t been that bad; there hasn’t been a lot of panic buying yet, but I think there might be a bit of a rush if we get hit with a fiver.

“But there’s not much you can do other than wait and prepare to clean up.”

Queensland Premier David Crisafulli said the system could be the largest many people have seen in memory.

“We are asking people to be prepared for waves, wind, rainfall and flooding, but communities can get through this if they prepare,” Mr Crisafulli said.

After passing Cape York the storm was expected to affect the Upper End of the Northern Territory before moving onto Western Australia’s Kimberley coast.

By the time it reaches the NT it will likely be downgraded to a category three storm.

Narelle will be the first category five storm to hit Queensland since Cyclone Marcia devastated the central parts of the state in 2015.