Queensland prepares

Brisbane: Extra police officers are on their way to remote Cape York communities as forecasters warn Tropical Cyclone Nora could hit Queensland’s northwestern coast as a severe category three storm.

Nora is rapidly intensifying off the Northern Territory coastline and could make landfall as early as today, or possibly tomorrow.

It is located about 560km northwest of Weipa and is expected to make a beeline for the peninsula’s western coastline and develop into a category three system today.

Emergency Services Minister Craig Crawford said cyclone preparations were in full swing in many Cape York communities.

‘‘If it hits as a cat three, in some of those communities we could see some widespread devastation,’’ he told ABC radio. — AAP