Thousands of north Queensland residents are without power and flood alerts are in place as Tropical Cyclone Ita continues to make its way down the state's coast.
Cyclone Ita was bringing bring torrential rain and winds of up to 100 km/h to areas from Port Douglas to Innisfail, though it has weakened to a category one system.
About 12,000 people were without power overnight on Saturday.
Houses in Cooktown were damaged. Photo: AAP
Flood warnings have been issued for several rivers on the far north Queensland coast and meteorologists have warned of possible flash flooding in Cairns. The Bureau of Meteorology said the Cairns area would be hit with over 100mm of water and some highways and bridges had been flooded.
Cyclone Ita made landfall at Cape Flattery on Friday night as a category four storm and weakened as it travelled inland.
Roofs were torn from buildings in Cooktown and there are reports of damage to buildings at Hope Vale but other major structural damage appears to have been kept to a minimum, the ABC reports.
Queensland premier Campbell Newman was flying to far north Queensland on Sunday for a first-hand look at the damage.
The weather system is forecast to move between Cairns and Mareeba before weakening and heading out to sea on Sunday.
Families leave the Cooktown evacuation centre after taking shelter overnight. Photo: AAP