Ex-Tropical Cyclone Tiffany expected to re-intensify with parts of Queensland to prepare for heavy rain and strong wind

Ex-Tropical Cyclone Tiffany is continuing to move west across the Cape York Peninsula with the Bureau of Meteorology (BOM) warning it will “rapidly intensify” overnight.

The cyclone was downgraded to a low-pressure system yesterday after it made landfall on the eastern side of Cape York.

The system dumped significant rainfall in the area, with more than 174 millimetres falling at Craiglie, just south of Port Douglas, in the 24 hours to 5:00am today.

About 100 kilometres to the west, several people were rescued from floodwaters on the Mulligan Highway at Desailly.

Emergency services were called to the scene just after 1:30am, after a car was swept from the roadway.

A spokesman for the Queensland Fire and Emergency Services (QFES) said when they arrived the car was completely submerged and the three occupants were found in a tree nearby, above the water level.

Officers used an inflatable platform to rescue the two women in their 30s and a man in his 20s, who were then taken to Mareeba Hospital in a stable condition.

QFES said another person was also rescued from floodwaters by a civilian last night near Mossman.

System to re-intensify

Senior forecaster Rosa Hoff said more storms and strong winds were expected in parts of Queensland later today and tomorrow morning.

“It weakened when it was cut off overland, but it’s sneaking back toward the water and conditions in the Gulf of Carpentaria are very favourable to cyclone development,” she said.

“We’re going to see it increase back up to a category one tropical cyclone at about 10:00pm tonight.

“The system will then continue to rapidly intensify, and it’ll be a category two again early in the hours of tomorrow morning.”

She said even with the system moving off-shore, the impact will be felt over much of northern Queensland and the Northern Territory.

“The system, even though it is in the Gulf is still continuing to push out into the east coast of Queensland as well, with areas such as Cairns continuing to see showers this morning,” she said.

“It’s highly possible that we could see more storm development at least over the Gulf throughout the day today.

“Just because the centre is in one particular place, doesn’t mean other areas are out of the woods just yet.”

She said as well as heavy rainfall, some regions should prepare for strong wind gusts.

“We’re no longer seeing strong gales wrapping around the system, [but] there does still remain a possibility for gale force wind gust over the south-east Gulf of Carpentaria and the north-east Gulf at times as well this morning,” she said.

“Generally, the thing to watch will be the system as it re-intensifies.”