Queensland’s Department of Transport and Main Roads said it was assisting Mornington Shire Council to organise extra flights out of Mornington Island due to the re-formed Tropical Cyclone Owen which lashing heavy winds and rains in the Gulf.
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The cyclone is now a Category 2 and is expected to grow into a Category 3 cyclone by Thursday.
A coastal crossing along the southeast Gulf of Carpentaria coast between Burketown to Pormpuraaw during Friday afternoon is most likely, the BoM said.
At 12:30pm Wednesday the cyclone was was located in the Gulf of Carpentaria 125 kilometres southeast of Groote Eylandt and moving west at 9 kilometres per hour.
Mornington Island began evacuating people yesterday.
In addition to the scheduled Rex Airlines flights at 12.20pm and 3.50pm today, two additional flights departed at 9.40am and 2.30pm to assist those residents choosing to self-evacuate from the island.
The two scheduled daily flights out of Mornington Island remain the same for Thursday and Friday, although these may be cancelled depending on the cyclone’s movements.
TransLink Deputy Director-General Matt Longland said passengers had been contacted by Rex and were offered to reschedule their flights later in the week to today without having to pay a booking change fee.
“We want to ensure that anyone choosing to evacuate has the option to leave before flights are grounded,” Mr Longland said.
“TransLink will continue to work with local councils, airlines and community groups to ensure affected residents have transport options. Rex reported 26 people on this morning’s extra service.”
Karumba will not be serviced from Thursday December 13 until further notice, and Mornington Island will not be serviced from Friday December 14 until further notice.
There will be an additional two extra Skytrans flights Thursday departing Pormpuraaw at 9:35am and Kowanyama at 5:50pm.
Customers are encouraged to check operators websites for further updates.
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Derek Barry
Editor of the North West Star Mount Isa since January 2016. Prior to that, an editor at several regional southern Queensland newspapers. Passionate about telling local stories. Comes with a strange accent to due an Irish accident of birth.
Editor of the North West Star Mount Isa since January 2016. Prior to that, an editor at several regional southern Queensland newspapers. Passionate about telling local stories. Comes with a strange accent to due an Irish accident of birth.
