News

Tropical Cyclone Megan intensifies to a category-three storm as it bears down on Northern Territory and Queensland

Top End communities were braced for Monday’s arrival of severe Tropical Cyclone Megan, with destructive wind gusts of up to 200km/h expected to bring widespread damage, heavy rainfall and potential flooding to coastal communities into next week.

The weather system intensified to category three on Sunday and Miriam Bradbury from the Bureau of Meteorology said it was expected to remain a category three as it crossed the coast on Monday.

“There is a fractional chance we could see further intensification,” she told ABC News Breakfast. “But at this stage the official forecast is that it will remain at category three and cross the coast at category three strength as well.”

Early Monday morning the system was 170km south southeast of Alyangula and 135km northeast of Borroloola in the Northern Territory, moving slowly with wind gusts up to 185km/h The Bom said it was expected to cross the coast between Nathan River and the Northern Territory/Queensland border on Monday evening, weakening into a tropical low as it moved through the NT.

The warning area spans hundreds of kilometres from Alyangula on Groote Eylandt to Mornington Island in Queensland, extending inland to Borroloola, McArthur River Mine and Robinson River.

Megan began impacting the southern Gulf of Carpentaria coast around 8pm ACST on Sunday.

For more information please visit: https://www.msn.com/en-au/news/australia/tropical-cyclone-megan-intensifies-to-a-category-three-storm-as-it-bears-down-on-northern-territory-and-queensland/ar-BB1k1Iic?ocid=msedgntphdr&cvid=5518887f2bb04a08f70e6873c899d2a3&ei=14