00:00Tropical cyclone Koji is making landfall as a category one system. It's crossed the coast
00:08between Eyre and Bowen, bringing heavy rain and strong winds as it tracks west through the region.
00:14Our reporter Jasmine Hines is at Ellie Beach in the Whitsundays for us. Hi there, Jasmine.
00:20Can see the wind sort of blustering a little bit behind you there. What are the conditions like
00:25at Ellie? Well it's safe to say we're really starting to feel the effects of cyclone Koji at
00:32Ellie. The winds have been pretty blustery. The rains have died down a little bit this morning.
00:38We have had pretty heavy rain all morning but it's just sort of showers at the moment while we still
00:42have those quite heavy winds. Behind me on the coast we've seen a couple boats which have lost
00:49their moorings. One which looked like it was really struggling in the waters there so safe
00:55to say that the impacts are definitely being felt here. We've still seen plenty of cars and people
01:00out and about on the roads here in Ellie but there still is that warning in place to take shelter now
01:06because of those damaging winds. We also heard a bit further south in Mackay, the mayor there this
01:11morning urging people to really be cautious and careful around the roads this morning as well.
01:18And Jasmine, do we have an idea at the moment of where the system is tracking?
01:25Well the systems between Eyre and Bowen at the moment but the real concern is the heavy rainfall
01:31that we're seeing. So a huge amount of rain is possible in large parts of North Queensland
01:37including as far south as Rockhampton. So the heaviest falls we've seen so far have been inland of
01:43Mackay with more than 320 millimetres recorded there at the Clark Ranges. But the Premier David
01:51Chris Foley, he spoke earlier this morning and he says he was confident that the state was well
01:56prepared for this event. People have really taken this genuinely seriously and I want them to know
02:02we've done the same. We've pre-positioned a lot of our assets, things like swift water rescue boats and
02:08helicopters to be able to do medical retrievals. There's been a lot of staff, police, firefighters,
02:13SES, ambulance who've come from other parts of the state to go and help those local crews who do a
02:20marvellous job. They know their area, they're well resourced but it just shows that Queensland spirit.
02:24So I genuinely think that we're well prepared and so too are individuals. So I've got every faith that
02:29people will get through it.
02:31So emergency services, extra personnel have been stationed here in the Whitsundays. We know heavy
02:38rainfall which could lead to flash flooding is possible from Ingham to Proserpine at the moment.
02:44So at this stage it's just a wait and see to see this heavy winds die down which is expected at about
02:51lunchtime and to see what the damage brings from Koji.
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