Residents evacuated, roads closed amid fears of tropical cyclone forming off Queensland coast

Residents in one Aussie state are being evacuated and roads have been inundated with water, amid fears of a tropical cyclone forming off the coast.

Residents have been evacuated, roads have closed and railways have been inundated with water from flash flooding in Far North Queensland - with fears a tropical cyclone could form.

Parts of the Bruce Highway and Silkwood Japoon Rd have been closed to all traffic, with long delays expected, due to water over the road.

Up to 20 roads were closed earlier on Wednesday, the Courier Mail reported, with residents from Gordonvale near Cairns evacuated due to flooding.

Delays were expected in other areas due to water over the road, with even railways being plunged into chaos following the wild weather.

Photos have captured flooded railways. Picture: Facebook/Queensland Rail.

Some areas of Queensland recorded up to 300mm of rain in 24 hours. Picture: Facebook/Queensland Rail.

Photos have captured flooded railways, with Queensland Rail saying “Queensland does not hold back” when it comes to weather events in a post to Facebook.

“Water over the tracks caused by heavy rainfall and high tides can have significant impacts on our network and quickly become a safety risk,” the post read.

“While our dedicated teams are working hard to keep the network running across the state, some service disruptions are likely to occur, as your safety remains our top priority.

“Our thoughts are with all communities affected. We’ve been through it before, and we’ll get through it again — together.”

The 24hr rainfall totals to 9am Wednesday were as high as 300mm near the Innisfail area, with flood warnings in place for parts of the North Tropical Coast.

A moderate flood warning was issued for the Mulgrave River, while a flood warning was also issued for the Russell River.

The Tully River was also issued a minor flood warning.

The deluge comes after Bureau of Meteorology senior meteorologist Jonathon How on Tuesday said it was looking to be an “quite an active period” of weather across Northern Queensland and much of northern Australia, with the chance of tropical cyclones in Queensland.

A forecast of the accumulated rain during the 10 days ending on February 7, according to the ECMWF-HRES model. Picture: Supplied / Weatherzone

Tropical lows off the he Gulf Coast, the Cairns Coast and the Coral Sea are being monitored. Picture: Supplied / Weatherzone

“We’re monitoring the potential for tropical lows across the north of the country which may form into tropical cyclones,” Mr How said.

While none of the lows have yet formed, Mr How warned there was “at least a 25 per cent chance of (the tropical lows) forming into a cyclone towards the end of this week”.

The Bureau of Meteorology are monitoring tropical lows off The Gulf Coast, the Cairns Coast and the Coral Sea.

“We definitely do say regardless of whether we see a cyclone form it will be a very rainy period over Queensland for next week or so,” he said.

There’s also the potential for a monsoon across the state.

“A monsoon normally brings widespread cloud cover, lots of rain, cooler temperatures and a lot of people are hanging out for that,” Mr How said.

“(There will be) quite rainy conditions regardless of whether we see cyclones.”

Heavy rainfall is set to continue across parts of northeast Queensland on Thursday.

The Bureau of Meteorology are monitoring tropical lows off The Gulf Coast, the Cairns Coast and the Coral Sea that could develop into tropical cyclones. Picture: Weatherzone.

Bureau of Meteorology meteorologist Angus Hines said a low pressure near the Queensland coast had brought “really significant rainfall” to parts of the north tropics over the last few days.

“We will have heavy rainfall across parts of the northeast once again, where the main watch area for Thursday being the Whitsundays, The Central Coast and the Bowen area,” he said.

“But really we could see rainfalls anywhere north of the Mackay, including across the peninsula.

“Further south from Rockhampton down to Brisbane, including all of the southeast, much brighter and sunnier weather, clear 32C day in Brisbane.

“Chance of a storm around some of the Central Highlands, but hot, dry and sunny in the west.”

Originally published as Residents evacuated, roads closed amid fears of tropical cyclone forming off Queensland coast