Cyclone weakens as it passes through north-eastern Australia

A tropical cyclone packing winds of up to 137 mph lashed Australia’s remote north-eastern coast today, a month after another storm left thousands in the region homeless.

Cyclone Monica crossed the coast south of the Aboriginal community of Lockhart River at about noon local time, the Bureau of Meteorology said. There were no immediate reports of injuries or damage.

Peter Buckland, the chief executive officer of the Lockhart River Aboriginal Shire Council said the community of about 700 people was experienced in preparing for cyclones, having been hit by category-four Cyclone Ingrid in March last year.

“We’ve had another miraculous survival from another one (cyclone),” Buckland told the Ten television network.

A spokeswoman for the Queensland Counter Disaster and Rescue Service, Kathryn Ryan, also said there were no early reports of structural damage in Lockhart River, but it was too early to make a proper assessment.

The cyclone was still hovering over Queensland state’s Cape York Peninsula and was unlikely to clear the area until early tomorrow, according to Mike Keating, the chief police officer in the northern city of Cairns.

He said emergency services personnel were on standby to respond to any reports of injury or damage once the storm moved west, away from Cape York.

A senior forecaster with the Bureau of Meteorology, Manfred Greitschus, said Cyclone Monica was slowly losing intensity as it moved over land at about 9 mph.

“It has been weakening very slowly but it’s still a severe tropical cyclone,” he said.

Last month, category-five Cyclone Larry – the most powerful cyclone to hit north-eastern Australia in decades – tore through the rural community of Innisfail, about 60 miles south of Cairns, destroying thousands of homes and devastating banana and sugar cane plantations.