‘Very fortunate’: Townsville Mayor provides update on ex-Tropical Cyclone Kirrily

Townsville Mayor Jenny Hill says Townsville was “very fortunate” that only parts of the city felt the effects of a category one weather system and assures that damage crews are hard at work assessing the aftermath. “Cyclone Kirrily came through; by the time it got close to the coast, it had definitely dropped down to a cat two and parts of the city really only saw the effects of a category one,” she said during a media conference on Friday. “QFES have got damage crews out there and (are) helping us with damage assessment. “SES are currently working through their jobs – they do have properties where trees may have fallen to the side of the properties.” More than 40,000 homes were without power on Australia Day morning after the weather system crashed into the northern Queensland coast on Thursday night. The powerful category two system arrived between Townsville and Ingham with wind speeds up to 170 kilometres per hour.