‘Damage will be widespread’: Narelle brings 250km/h wind gusts, with tourists evacuated and schools closed

Massive storm tracking a path to Queensland coast, which intensified offshore Thursday morning to category 5, fuelled by warm waters in Coral Sea

• Live updates: Severe Tropical Cyclone Narelle – latest news

• Cyclone Narelle path tracking map

Severe Tropical Cyclone Narelle is expected to make landfall in far north Queensland on Friday morning as a monster category 5 storm, bringing destructive wind gusts of 250km/h, according to the Bureau of Meteorology.

The severe cyclone rapidly intensified over the past 48 hours and in the early hours of Friday morning had built to a category 5 storm that was barrelling west, sitting about 150km east of the small town of Coen. Coen has a population of approximately 330.