Around 500 people sheltering in Darwin school gym as Tropical Cyclone Narelle barrels towards NT coast

## Summary
Nightcliff High School has become an evacuation centre for Numbulwar residents as the Northern Territory prepares for Tropical Cyclone Narelle to make landfall late Saturday. Photograph: (A)manda Parkinson/The Guardian View image in fullscreen Nightcliff High School has become an evacuation centre for Numbulwar residents as the Northern Territory prepares for Tropical Cyclone Narelle to make landfall late Saturday. Photograph: (A)manda Parkinson/The Guardian Around 500 people sheltering in Darwin school gym as Tropical Cyclone Narelle barrels towards NT coast Very destructive winds gusting up to 195km/h are forecasted with the storm expected to intensify before it makes landfall again Get our breaking news email , free app or daily news podcast Thousands of people are bracing for Severe Cyclone Narelle as it barrels towards the Northern Territory , with winds of up to 195km/h expected from the dangerous storm as it moves west from far north Queensland. Photograph: (A)manda Parkinson/The Guardian The federal emergency management minister, Kirsty McBain, on Saturday morning said Defence had embedded an air liaison officer in the Northern Territory emergency operating centre.

## Article Content
Nightcliff High School has become an evacuation centre for Numbulwar residents as the Northern Territory prepares for Tropical Cyclone Narelle to make landfall late Saturday.
Photograph: (A)manda Parkinson/The Guardian
View image in fullscreen
Nightcliff High School has become an evacuation centre for Numbulwar residents as the Northern Territory prepares for Tropical Cyclone Narelle to make landfall late Saturday.
Photograph: (A)manda Parkinson/The Guardian
Around 500 people sheltering in Darwin school gym as Tropical Cyclone Narelle barrels towards NT coast
Very destructive winds gusting up to 195km/h are forecasted with the storm expected to intensify before it makes landfall again
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Thousands of people are bracing for Severe Cyclone Narelle as it barrels towards the
Northern Territory
, with winds of up to 195km/h expected from the dangerous storm as it moves west from far north Queensland.
Narelle was downgraded from a category 4 to a 2 as it moved through the Gulf of Carpentaria after making landfall across Cape York on Friday, forecasted to hit eastern Top End late Saturday.
The Bureau of Meteorology has warned more than 10,000 residents from Nhulunbuy to Port McArthur, including Borroloola, Numbulwar, Alyangula and Gapuwiyak that Narelle would strengthen as it approaches.
Very destructive winds gusting up to 195km/h were forecast in some areas into Sunday while heavy rain may cause flash flooding.
“There are some key watch points for residents in the Cape York peninsula today, and the first of those is the rivers, which are still raging, water flowing much higher than usual, spilling over the banks and across roads,” the bureau’s senior meteorologist Angus Hines said.
“This is likely isolating communities in the far north of
Queensland
and making it difficult to get out and assess the damage, reach remote locations and top up supplies.”
‘Cyclone-hardened’ Queenslanders shelter in shipping containers as ‘bloody horrendous’ Narelle tears through
Read more
View image in fullscreen
Yolngu man Vernon Roy Wilford was evacuated from Numbulwar.
Photograph: (A)manda Parkinson/The Guardian
The federal emergency management minister, Kirsty McBain, on Saturday morning said Defence had embedded an air liaison officer in the Northern Territory emergency operating centre.
She also said the National Critical Care and Trauma Centre has deployed a team to Katherine for health assessment and clinical resources, including a field hospital should it be required.
On the Gulf of Carpentaria coast, the defence force has evacuated almost 150 people from the community of Numbulwar, with hundreds more to be flown out as Narelle approaches.
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View image in fullscreen
Numbulwar residents are sheltering in Nightcliff High School.
Photograph: (A)manda Parkinson/The Guardian
In Darwin, about 500 people from Numbulwar made Nightcliff High School’s gym their new home ahead of the cyclone impacting their community.
The Australian government disaster recovery payment has been activated for areas including Chinchilla in Western Downs, Bundaberg central, east, north and south. In the NT this will be extended to Daly River and in the Victoria Daly, and Lansdowne in Roper Gulf.
The payments will be made available from 2pm on Tuesday, with residents advised to check the Services Australia website.
“Additional assessments will be made for impacted areas by
Tropical Cyclone Narelle
as soon as possible,” McBain said.
The Bureau of Meteorology said there were wind speeds in Weipa and Lockhart River of 110km/h on Friday, with 200 to 300mm of rain in 24 hours. As of Saturday morning, there were no rescues required or casualties, and damage was mostly structural or fallen trees.
View image in fullscreen
The Todd River in Alice Springs is again threatening to break its banks after heavy rainfall.
Photograph: (A)manda Parkinson/The Guardian
Across Cape York, around 1,100 people were without power as of Saturday morning.
Cyclone Narelle is currently category 2, but will strengthen as it moves into the NT, BoM said, and will become a category 3 as it approaches the coast north of Groote Eylandt, with destructive wind gusts near the centre of the system up to 195km/h.
Rainfall is expected to be between 150mm and 200mm daily as the system passes, and a tropical cyclone warning is current for Nhulumbuy and Borroloola.
Rainfall is expected to peak on Sunday and Monday, with potential major flooding for Katherine River, Daly River, Waterhouse and the Adelaide River catchments.
Narelle is expected to track over the Northern Kimberly and move offshore to the Indian Ocean from Tuesday.
View image in fullscreen
An Australian government disaster recovery payment has been activated for communities in Queensland and the NT.
Photograph: (A)manda Parkinson/The Guardian
Katherine mayor Joanna Holden told AAP the town’s population of 10,000 was taking the forecast

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## Expert Analysis

### Merits
N/A

### Areas for Consideration
- Very destructive winds gusting up to 195km/h were forecast in some areas into Sunday while heavy rain may cause flash flooding. “There are some key watch points for residents in the Cape York peninsula today, and the first of those is the rivers, which are still raging, water flowing much higher than usual, spilling over the banks and across roads,” the bureau’s senior meteorologist Angus Hines said. “This is likely isolating communities in the far north of Queensland and making it difficult to get out and assess the damage, reach remote locations and top up supplies.” ‘Cyclone-hardened’ Queenslanders shelter in shipping containers as ‘bloody horrendous’ Narelle tears through Read more View image in fullscreen Yolngu man Vernon Roy Wilford was evacuated from Numbulwar.

### Implications
- Very destructive winds gusting up to 195km/h were forecast in some areas into Sunday while heavy rain may cause flash flooding. “There are some key watch points for residents in the Cape York peninsula today, and the first of those is the rivers, which are still raging, water flowing much higher than usual, spilling over the banks and across roads,” the bureau’s senior meteorologist Angus Hines said. “This is likely isolating communities in the far north of Queensland and making it difficult to get out and assess the damage, reach remote locations and top up supplies.” ‘Cyclone-hardened’ Queenslanders shelter in shipping containers as ‘bloody horrendous’ Narelle tears through Read more View image in fullscreen Yolngu man Vernon Roy Wilford was evacuated from Numbulwar.
- She also said the National Critical Care and Trauma Centre has deployed a team to Katherine for health assessment and clinical resources, including a field hospital should it be required.
- In the NT this will be extended to Daly River and in the Victoria Daly, and Lansdowne in Roper Gulf.
- The payments will be made available from 2pm on Tuesday, with residents advised to check the Services Australia website. “Additional assessments will be made for impacted areas by Tropical Cyclone Narelle as soon as possible,” McBain said.

### Expert Commentary
This article covers narelle, cyclone, numbulwar topics. Areas of concern are also raised. Readability: Flesch-Kincaid grade 0.0. Word count: 1014.