Parts of Queensland hit by Cyclone Debbie a year ago are in path of Tropical Cyclone Iris as it moves down the Whitsunday coast.

The system, which reformed into a cyclone over the weekend, is expected to intensify into a category three storm by Wednesday morning.

It was about 290km north-east of Townsville but is continuing to move south along the Queensland coast.

The state emergency services minister, Craig Crawford, said residents in the Mackay and Whitsunday regions could expect to experience heavy rain and high winds over the coming days.

“They’ll see very similar effects to what they saw a year ago with TC Debbie but obviously not as severe,” he said on Tuesday. “We believe it’s going to sit around the Whitsunday region for a couple of days and then head further out to sea.”

Crawford said Cairns and Townsville appeared to be in the clear but, given the erratic path the system had tracked so far, authorities were keeping a close watch.

A cyclone warning has been issued for the area between Ayr and Sarina, with gale force winds, heavy rain and flash flooding possible.

A watch zone is in place from Sarina to St Lawrence.

The system should start to weaken again from Thursday but residents in the warning area are being urged to prepare.

A severe weather warning was also issued between Townsville and Mackay.



The impact of Iris will be felt across areas already saturated by rain delivered on its first sweep along the Queensland coast, and then from Cyclone Nora.

The Queensland premier, Annastacia Palaszczuk, said she was comfortable with preparations by authorities and urged people to take care on the roads.

Iris is not expected to affect the opening ceremony of the Commonwealth Games on the Gold Coast on Wednesday nor the associated royal visit by Prince Charles and Duchess of Cornwall.

It is also not predicted to affect Commonwealth Games events being held in Cairns and Townsville, which begin later this week.

