Wild weather hits Queensland and Northern Territory as Cyclone Marcia and Cyclone Lam attack
FIERCE winds have torn trees out by their roots and hundreds of families have fled their homes as a “cyclone sandwich” approaches the north of Australia.
WHAT WE KNOW:
* Cyclone Lam near the Northern Territory is category 4 and Cyclone Marcia off the Queensland coast will strengthen into a category 5 cyclone.
* The Bureau of Meteorology says it only has records of four Category 5 cyclones reaching landfall in Queensland: Cyclone Mahina in Princess Charlotte Bay in 1899, a cyclone in Mackay and another in Innisfail in 1918 (they didn’t have names) and Cyclone Yasi in 2011.
* Severe Tropical Cyclone Marcia is due to cross the Queensland coast between St Lawrence and Gladstone with destructive winds with gusts of up to 295 km/h expected near the core of the system. (BoM)
* Landfall now estimated for #TCMarcia is 7am (local time) Friday morning but still as a CAT5 system (@Melbbiker).
* #TCLam has just made landfall as a category 4 system and it intensified a little as it hit.
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