THE Mornington Island airport has been closed until further notice, as residents prepare for a potential cyclone which could hit the Gulf of Carpentaria on Christmas eve.
A statement issued by the Mornington Shire Council said the airport was, “closed until further notice, runway not expected to be repaired for at least a week, but that is dependent on the weather”.
Some charter flights are operating out of Birri Beach strip and this will be used for any medi vacs or other emergencies until further notice. More updates are available here or on Black Star Radio.
The Balaleah Road is closed to all traffic and Birri Road is open for emergency traffic only as of 10am Monday morning due to heavy overnight and continuing rainfall.
The Bureau of Meteorology is warning communities on western Cape York and the southern Gulf of Carpentaria should prepare for a cyclone in the next two days.
Senior forecaster Jaunty Hall said, “a monsoon trough and tropical low appears to be strengthening and could become a cyclone over the Mornington Shire region”.
For the past ten days the Queensland Government, GIVIT and Mornington Shire Council have run the Get Ready U’Fella cyclone initiative, which included a mass clean up on the remote island, including the removal of loose branches and objects around homes.
Council’s infrastructure department explained this was about being realistic that extreme weather events occur in Queensland, and the more prepared residents are - the faster the community will bounce back should a cyclone eventuate.
Council worked with GIVIT to develop a Cyclone Pantry Kit should residents be in a situation where a natural disaster impacted fishing for tucker and supplies in the local store become scarce [cut off from the once weekly barge].
GIVIT Founder and CEO Juliette Wright said, “when Mornington Shire Council contacted us we knew we wanted to support this community and the people working to make a difference”.
“We tapped into our national donor database and requested funds to purchase non-perishable food for Cyclone Pantry Kits to provide to residents. Once goods arrive [on this week’s barge], the kits will be assembled and handed to every Mornington Island household [1200 residents].”
- Source: Mornington Shire Council
