Far north gets ready for Ingrid

SYDNEY - Holidaymakers in upmarket resorts are among those being evacuated as far north Queensland battens down ahead of what could be one of Australia's most destructive cyclones in 30 years.

Severe tropical cyclone Ingrid was about 225km north north-east of Cooktown and 260km east of Coen towards the northern tip of the cape and was moving westward at 9km/h. It was expected to hit this morning.

It is the most severe to threaten north Queensland in 100 years and combined with king tides could cause widespread damage both from the winds and flooding.

Resort operator Voyages voluntarily evacuated guests from its premier resort on Lizard Island as well as other resorts on Cape Tribulation on Tuesday.

Voyages chief Grant Hunt said 31 guests had been airlifted from Lizard Island, while 18 guests from Coconut Beach Rainforest Lodge and Ferntree Rainforest Lodge in Cape Tribulation had left.

About 140 staff were among those evacuated. Hunt said guests had been relocated to Voyages' Dunk Island, Bedarra Island, Heron Island, Brampton Island and Silky Oak Lodge resorts.

Resorts at Cape Tribulation were expected to reopen today. The current warning area extends from Lockhart River to Port Douglas, with a watch area including Cairns and as far south as Innisfail.

Dozens of coastal communities in the line of the storm were packing sandbags, felling trees, and gathering emergency supplies.

Residents of the Aboriginal communities of Hopevale and Wujul Wujul, home to more than 1500 people, were on standby to evacuate, along with the nearby 2000-strong township of Cooktown.

The bureau also warned of high seas and expected flooding between Cape Melville and Cape Tribulation.

In Cairns, more than 340km south, emergency workers were filling sandbags, the port was closed and fishing trips cancelled, with a 3.4m king tide scheduled to hit early today.

Authorities are concerned because more than 20 per cent of the city's 130,000 residents have never experienced a cyclone, having moved from southern states within the last five years.

A spokeswoman for the Cape Flattery Silica Mine, located in the path of the storm, said it had evacuated most of its workers on Tuesday.

"We got most of the workers out yesterday, but there are 29 of us still here and we'll just sit it out," she said.

Cooktown shire Mayor Bob Sullivan said about 20 people from the small Aboriginal community of Port Stewart had been evacuated.

He said there were no plans for further evacuations.

The cyclone has been downgraded from category five to category four, the weather bureau said and is now within the same category as Australia's infamous Cyclone Tracy, which ravaged the country's north coast.

"There is a small risk it could cross the coast near Cooktown," a bureau spokesman said.

"But it's most likely to cross the coast in relatively unpopulated areas."

Tropical Cyclone Warning Centre supervising meteorologist Phil Alford said Ingrid was still in a fierce mood.

"It's not as though it's any significant weakening and it's not as though it will last for long - it might actually intensify.

"There's some indication that it could intensify back to category 5 again."

Alford said the cyclone was carrying maximum wind gusts near the centre of around 280km/h.

- AAP