New cyclone heads for Australia

2006-03-22 11:32

Sydney - A new cyclone is strengthening as it heads towards Australia's storm-battered northeast but is unlikely to hit the coast with the same devastation as Cyclone Larry did this week, forecasters said on Wednesday.

Tropical Cyclone Wati is already a category three storm and is expected to intensify but remain in offshore waters, though gale force winds and high seas could hit the area, the Tropical Cyclone Warning Centre said.

"At this stage its moving pretty slowly," forecaster Cathy Muller said. The cyclone was still 620km to the northeast of Mackay on the Queensland coast south of Innisfail, which bore the brunt of Monday's highest-level category five Cyclone Larry.

"Our thinking is that it will keep fairly slow moving in the next couple of days and then possibly get caught up in an upper level trough which will see it track to the southeast," Muller said.

If that was the case, the cyclone would not hit the coast, though the coast could be battered by gale force winds and rough seas.

Asked whether there was any chance of the cyclone coming ashore, Muller replied: "Everything's possible, but that's not our current thinking."

Cyclone Larry flattened hundreds of homes and vast croplands, causing hundreds of millions of dollars in damage.

- SAPA