Tropical Cyclone Narelle on track to hit NT as flood-affected communities brace for more wet weather

The Bureau of Meteorology is set to issue a cyclone watch alert for parts of the Northern Territory from Thursday morning, as residents attempting to clean up after devastating floods brace for more rain. 

Tropical Cyclone Narelle is currently at category two strength and sitting about 950 kilometres off the Far North Queensland coast.

The Bureau of Meteorology's Jude Scott said NT communities likely to be impacted included Groote Eylandt, Numbulwar and Ngukurr.

"During tomorrow, the system will continue to move steadily west, intensifying to a category five system during Thursday, and then is likely to cross between the Lockhart River and Port Douglas in Queensland on Friday morning," she said.

"It will then move towards the NT coast in the Gulf of Carpentaria."

Ms Scott said Tropical Cyclone Narelle would bring heavy rainfall as it tracks over land, including to Katherine and Beswick, which have already been severely impacted by flooding in the past few weeks.

"Daily rainfall totals close to the centre of the system are forecast to be in the 150 to 200 millimetre range," she said.

She said the weather system was unlikely to directly impact Darwin.

"It's more likely to travel kind of at the base of the Top End, so pass over and move west without actually taking that hook up further north to reach Darwin," she said.

Live 5-day Cyclone Narelle forecast map

• This map shows a forecast of Tropical Cyclone Narelle's path for the next five days.
• It also shows high wind, cyclone watch and cyclone warning areas.
• Refer to the Bureau of Meteorology for official cyclone warnings and forecasts.

NT Emergency Servies deputy chief officer Greg Jarvis urged people in communities in the path of Tropical Cyclone Narelle to start preparing their cyclone kits now.

"While we have a couple of days to prepare, it's a really good opportunity for community residents to start working on their cyclone emergency kits, particularly for those communities that may have already been impacted [by weather events], that may have depleted water, food, medication, batteries, torches, all that type of stuff," he said.

"This is an opportunity to start preparing; to take a big deep breath, acknowledge that we're all very tired and we have been working for a long time, but we have to go again."

Incident controller Kirsten Engels, said Tropical Cyclone Narelle would be the NT's seventh significant weather event for this wet season, and that the situation was still unfolding.

"This includes assessing shelters and other options to keep people safe in their communities."

She reminded those who might be impacted to take the situation seriously.

"We know that it's starting to get tedious. We know that we've been together a long time now talking about weather, but we really need you to keep your focus going and prepare for what we know is going to strike this weekend," Acting Commander Engels said

"We're going to get through this. We've got another event to face, and we're going to face it together, and we're going to get through it together."

Katherine braces for more wet weather

With the town of Katherine still reeling from major flooding just a few weeks ago, Ms Scott has warned the town is expected to receive more rain from Tropical Cyclone Narelle.

"At this stage, the system, after it does cross the coast, it will weaken to ex-tropical cyclone status, but it still will be bringing heavy rainfall," she said.

"It is, at this stage, expected to pass directly over the Katherine region and there's every chance that the rainfall there will lead to renewed river rises along the Katherine catchment.

Katherine officially transitioned to the recovery phase on Monday after last week experiencing its worst flooding in 28 years.

The Member for Katherine, Jo Hersey, said residents were worried about the forecast and keen to get more information.

"I know that everyone that I've spoken to is very nervous," she said.

"We will keep very closely monitoring [the situation] with the BOM and I urge people to keep [up-to-date through] Secure NT."

Late yesterday, Power and Water Corporation (PWC) said only a "small number" of properties remained without power, but that preparations are underway for further severe weather.

Weather puts NT health system under stress

On Tuesday, health authorities revealed the territory's three largest hospitals in Darwin, Palmerston and Alice Springs had made "code yellow" declarations, which are triggered when a facility is over capacity.

The declarations can mean the cancellation of some elective surgeries and moves to increase patient discharge.

An NT Health statement said the hospital system was experiencing "system-wide pressures … due to simultaneous and ongoing emergency responses to weather events."

Chief executive Chris Hosking told ABC Darwin that Royal Darwin Hospital was caring for patients evacuated from Katherine and residents of remote communities needing treatments for chronic disease.

"When we called the code yellow [at Royal Darwin Hospital], I think we had more than 20 patients double-bunked in emergency, every hospital bed was full," he said.

"We had taken over one ward in the private hospital in order to care for the patients extracted from Katherine, and there were still another 50 people waiting in the waiting room to be seen."

Mr Hosking said NT Health was asking medical staff in the wider system to volunteer to relieve hospital colleagues if possible.

NT Health said it urged people requiring non-urgent care to contact a GP or Medicare Urgent Care Clinic.