Tropical Cyclone Narelle barrels west after ripping off roofs and downing trees in far north Queensland

Second landfall expected over weekend in NT as Queensland premier says relatively limited damage so far ‘an incredibly good news story’ Live updates: Severe Tropical Cyclone Narelle – latest news How did global heating fuel Tropical Cyclone Narelle? Get our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcast Tropical Cyclone Narelle weakened in intensity on Friday evening after barrelling into far north Queensland as one of the state’s fiercest cyclones in living memory – downing trees, ripping off roofs and swelling rivers. As of 4pm local time, the Bureau of Meteorology downgraded Narelle from a category 3 to category 2 storm, meaning while it was less severe there were still destructive winds near the centre of 100 km/h and wind gusts up to 150 km/h. The system crossed the Cape York peninsula at 7am on Friday as a “high-end” category 4 storm with sustained winds of 195km/h – just 5 km/h short of being a category 5 storm. After being downgraded, the weather bureau warned the centre of the system was still bringing destructive wind gusts of up to 150km, which was forecast to reach Aurukun, in the western part of the Cape, on Friday evening, Damaging gales of up to 120 km/h were li