severe tropical cyclone narelle had officially intensified into a category five storm about 500km offshore and was forecast to hit the coast the next morning, with its projected path centered on the inland Cape York town of Coen. Residents across Coen and nearby communities are preparing for the possibility of weeks without power, mobile reception or access to the outside world.
What Happens When Severe Tropical Cyclone Narelle Reaches Cape York?
The current situation is stark and localised. Coen, a landlocked town of roughly 330 people not far from the east coast of Cape York, found itself in the projected path of a category five system. Community measures escalated as the storm intensified offshore: sandbagging, securing shops and preparing alternative communications were reported in town. The general manager of the Coen Regional Aboriginal Corporation, Lucretia Huen, was away from the community and expressed concern for family and residents; she described the environment in Coen as very calm and eerily silent, a quiet many locals described as the calm before the storm.
About three hours by road to the north-east, the remote community of Lockhart River — where more than 700 people were preparing to shelter — drew on recent experience. The town has lived through destructive cyclone impacts before: Tropical Cyclone Trevor in March 2019, a category four system, produced four hours of destructive conditions with peak gusts recorded at 137km/h. That history has shaped an active, front-foot response in Lockhart River this time around.
How communities are preparing
- Local businesses and residents are sandbagging doors, pulling down signs and securing buildings.
- Shops are stockpiling food and selling gas stoves and canned goods to households preparing for outages.
- Residents are preparing alternative communications, including UHF radio, in anticipation of mobile network loss.
- Some community members are planning small gatherings when safe to share meals and support neighbours.
- Officials and local leaders are drawing on past cyclone experience to coordinate readiness in towns without purpose-built cyclone shelters or uniformly modern building standards.
Three possible outcomes for residents
Best case: The storm’s impact on populated areas is less severe than the forecast peak intensity, and outages and isolation are limited in duration. Communities use local preparations to maintain safety and restore services relatively quickly.
Most likely: Significant disruption across the affected towns. Power and mobile reception are interrupted for days to weeks, older buildings suffer damage, and communities rely on local resources, mutual aid and prepared supplies while access to outside assistance is delayed.
Most challenging: The storm tracks directly over towns like Coen at high intensity, producing widespread structural damage and prolonged isolation. In that scenario, communities without purpose-built cyclone shelters and with older infrastructure face the hardest recovery period and will need extended support to restore basic services.
Local leaders and residents have already enacted practical measures drawn from recent experience. Sara Watkins, who runs one of two grocery and fuel shops in Coen and is also a mechanic, described preparations that ranged from selling gas stoves and canned food to readying a UHF radio; she also kept enough provisions to host a community sausage sizzle when it is safe. Lockhart River’s leadership notes that lessons from past cyclones have hardened community readiness and prompted an early, coordinated response.
What matters most in the coming hours is that residents, community managers and emergency coordinators prioritise immediate safety actions already in motion: securing buildings, ensuring fuel and food supplies, and activating local communication plans. The situation will hinge on the storm’s final track and intensity, but communities should prepare for extended disruption and limited external access if severe tropical cyclone narelle makes a direct inland strike.
