Tropical Cyclone Kimi to lash north Queensland coast ... from a distance

The Townsville Airport terminal was to close at 10pm on Monday due to the impending cyclone. While the situation would be reassessed on Tuesday, early-morning flights would be affected.

The Electoral Commission of Queensland closed the Townsville early-voting centre, being used for the council by-election, at 3pm on Monday due to the cyclone warning.

Emergency Services Minister Mark Ryan said that based on Monday's tracking maps, Cyclone Kimi was changing direction "every three hours or so".

"There is something predictable about cyclones, and that is the damage and risk they bring," he said.

"Anyone in the watch zone, you need to be prepared for destructive winds up to 150km/h."

The Bureau of Meteorology's Laura Boekel said it was too early to say how much rain would come to Townsville, which was devastated by floods in 2019.

The city's Ross River Dam, which reached 250 per cent capacity during those floods, was at 65.6 per cent on Monday afternoon.

"We are not as confident about the amounts that Townsville might see, but they [residents] are in an area that will experience some rainfall from the system," Ms Boekel said.

"Just how much and how intense that is will depend heavily on the track of this cyclone."

A moderate flood warning was in place for Georgina River and Eyre Creek, with minor flood warnings for the Thomson, Tully and Diamantina rivers, plus Cooper Creek. A flood watch was also current for coastal catchments between Cairns and Ayr.

The weather bureau said the category 2 system, which formed on Sunday, was tracking south-south-east at 14km/h and was expected to weaken to category 1 by Tuesday afternoon.

As winds picked up, rain increased and seas became rougher on Monday, north Queensland residents made their final preparations for Cyclone Kimi.

Sellars Farms owner Naomi Brownrigg at Mission Beach, 110 kilometres south of Cairns, said Kimi was "a little one" compared with previous cyclones.

"We're cutting fruit and we're tying up the banana trees, making sure everything is tied up so it helps support the tree in the event of any wind," she said.

"We might get a bit of wind, but that's part of having a banana farm ... It's a bit of a wait-and-see.

"With [category 5] Yasi [in 2011], we got the direct hit, so we knew the farm was going to be on the ground, so it was just about making sure everyone was safe."

On Monday, Barefoot on Bedarra caretaker Jeffrey Ball was stranded on Bedarra Island, near Mission Beach, as showers set in and winds picked up to 30-35 knots.

Mr Ball might not get back to Cairns for days.

"It keeps getting worse, the seas are getting bigger. If it keeps tracking the way it is, we'll probably be out of here by Wednesday," he said.

"The worst thing is the boat. We've got a boat here on a mooring. If the wind changes where the boat is anchored, it could get a bit messy."

Woolworths' far north Queensland operations manager, Gary O’Donnell, said the supermarket chain had well-established emergency relief plans to ensure key essentials would remain available.

"We've ordered plenty of additional stock, including water, long-life milk, baby formula, tinned food and nappies," he said.

A Coles spokeswoman said the chain would bring deliveries forward for affected stores.

"[This is] to increase stocks of essentials to help our customers prepare. We also make sure the stores have extra non-perishable items, such as extra water, UHT milk, baked beans, spaghetti, nappies, toilet paper and other essentials," she said.

- with Lucie McHugh, Jocelyn Garcia and Lydia Lynch