North Queensland is bracing for Cyclone Ita, which is predicted to reach the coast on Friday. Source: AAP
GALES up to 240km/h are expected to lash far north Queensland when the strongest cyclone since Yasi crosses the coast on Friday.
Cyclone Ita is due to intensify into a category four storm early on Thursday morning and cross the coast north of Cooktown on Friday night.
It's about 800km off land and poses significant threat to sparse communities between Cape Grenville and the Lockhart River, with strong gusts, storm surges and heavy rain beginning on Thursday.
The storm comes three years after category five Yasi ripped through Queensland, causing $3.5 billion worth of damage and lost tourism earnings.
Yasi unleashed its wrath about 1000km south of where Ita is forecast to cross.
"The winds won't be as strong as Yasi, but it will be the worse we've since," Bureau of Meteorology forecaster Andrew Cameron told AAP.
Peter Scott, mayor of Cookshire Council which covers 80 per cent of Cape York, says Ita could be one of the worst storms to hit the area in decades.
"Residents need to be ready and have somewhere safe to shelter," he told AAP.
He says there's a good supply of food and fuel.
Residents of Lockhart River on eastern Cape York are stocking up on food and clearing their yards in preparation for the storm.
"People are pretty calm but the wind is picking up," local woman Lisa, who declined to give her last name, told AAP.
Meanwhile, local district disaster management groups are holding meetings across the state's far north on Wednesday.
Far north district acting Chief Superintendent Brett Schafferius says there are no plans for evacuations but extra police will be sent to affected areas.
Staff from Emergency Management Queensland (EMQ), including a swift water rescue team, will head to Cooktown on Thursday.
Road and electricity resources have also been sent to the state's north.
Before forming into cyclone Ita, the tropical depression led to 21 deaths in the Solomon Islands last week.
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