Australians told to shelter in place as Tropical Cyclone Narelle hits Queensland

People living in parts of northern Australia have been told to take shelter after a cyclone made landfall on Friday morning.

Tropical Cyclone Narelle crossed the east coast of Cape York in Far North Queensland with powerful wind gusts of 220 km/h (137mph), but has since weakened from a category four system to a three, the weather bureau said.

Up to 500mm of rain is expected in some areas, which is predicted to cause severe flooding.

Earlier, the state's premier had warned locals that they could be facing the worst cyclone "in living memory".

Australia's Bureau of Meteorology said Narelle was still packing wind gusts of around 155 km/h as a category three cyclone.

The Queensland government said police and other emergency services had been covering the area in helicopters, while on the ground, rescue crews with boats, medical staff, ambulances and extra electricity crews were ready to help where needed.

The town of Coen, which has a population of around 350 people, had been expected to face the brunt of the storm, but appeared to have escaped the worst of the impact.

However, Debbie Jackson, who lives 50km (31 miles) north of Coen, told the ABC that they were "losing roofs everywhere".

"Lots of trees down. We have lost a few roofs. It's not real great," she said. "We just have to ride it out."

The area's sole power supplier, Ergon, said that as of 10:30 local time (00:30 GMT) there were around 3,500 homes without power across regional Queensland.

State Premier David Crisafulli said that although these were areas with relatively small populations, residents were "still Queenslanders, and we care about them".

"In many cases it will be the strongest wind people have experienced in this part of the state for a long, long time," he added.

And although this is known as the wet season in Far North Queensland, he said there was "a lot of rain" in the system.

"As it moves it will be hard and fast and we're dealing with an area where there are already very saturated catchments," Crisafulli said.

"As a result, the prospect of flash flooding is real."

Queensland's State Disaster Coordinator Chris Stream urged people to stay where they were and try to sit out the cyclone.

"Do not be lulled or get into any false sense of security or safety as the eye passes over," he said at a news conference in Brisbane.

"We cannot underestimate the potential risk to life that we will continue to see,"

The tourist town of Port Douglas, a gateway to the famous Great Barrier Reef and the Daintree Rainforest, has felt the impacts of the weather system with the town's beach washing out - despite being some 400km (248 miles) south of where Narelle made landfall.

And even in Cairns, a further 100km south, some beaches to the north of city have been badly eroded.

Tropical Cyclone Narelle is forecast to move across Cape York peninsula with small, predominantly Indigenous communities likely to be affected later on Friday.

It is then expected to move across the Gulf of Carpentaria where storm experts say the warm waters could cause the cyclone to intensify once again, as it moves towards the Northern Territory.

Hundreds of people from the remote community of Numbulwar have been evacuated to Darwin as a precaution.