Power outages, flood warnings and rescues: Cyclone Jasper's havoc despite downgrade

Cyclone Jasper has weakened to a tropical low but brought heavy rain and damaging winds, leading to a number of people being rescued in far north Queensland.

A restaurant in Palm Cove, Cairns, on Wednesday. The season's first cyclone hit the coast as a category two storm near Wujal Wujal, north of Cairns. Source: Getty, AFP / Brian Cassey

KEY POINTS

• Cyclone Jasper hit the coast as a category two storms north of Cairns on Wednesday night.
• Despite it being downgraded, intense showers, thunderstorms, and strong wind gusts are set to continue.
• Flood warnings have been issued for a number of north tropical coastal catchments.

People in Tropical Cyclone Jasper's destructive path have been warned they are still not safe despite the system weakening in far north Queensland.

Fallen powerlines and rising floodwaters are set to further test locals in coming days after the system was downgraded to a tropical low overnight.

"This event is not over," Queensland Treasurer Cameron Dick said on Thursday.

The season's first cyclone hit the coast as a category two storm near Wujal Wujal, north of Cairns, about 8pm on Wednesday, bringing damaging winds of up to 115km/h and heavy rainfall.

It has weakened as it heads inland but intense showers, thunderstorms, and strong wind gusts are set to continue.

Tropical Cyclone Jasper brought down trees as it crossed the coast in far north Queensland. Source: AAP / MyPolice Greater Cairns

People were forced to flee their homes as trees were uprooted and power lines damaged with more than 200mm of rain causing flooding.

More than 43,000 homes and businesses are without power.

"That means a quarter of homes and businesses in the affected areas have no power this morning," Dick said.

A dozen people and a dog had to be rescued at Mossman early on Thursday, more than 100km from where the system made landfall.

Another 40 people in surrounding areas left their homes and stayed with friends as floodwaters rose.

More than 100 people are at evacuation centres with the Queensland Fire and Emergency Services receiving more than 50 calls for assistance.

The Captain Cook Highway between Cairns and Port Douglas has been closed.

The cyclone may have passed but people have been encouraged not to head outdoors with police urging locals to give emergency services another 12 hours to "do their job and make it safe".

Flooding is a major concern after 20 locations across the far north received more than 200mm of rain in past 24 hours.

Heavy showers are set to continue into Thursday evening.

A major flood warning is current for the Daintree River.

Significant rises have occurred at the Mossman and Bloomfield rivers, reaching levels of 8.36m and 6.8m respectively.

Flood warnings have been issued for a number of north tropical coastal catchments.

A severe weather warning is current for the north tropical coast and tablelands with falls of between 150mm and 200mm still possible on Thursday.

The Aboriginal community of Wujal Wujal and surrounding areas copped the brunt of the cyclone while 25,000 homes and businesses in Cairns are without power.

Energy Minister Mick de Brenni said outages had been caused by falling trees and branches.

"Thankfully though, we haven't seen any impact to the high voltage transmission system," he said.

Cairns residents are expected to conserve drinking water for the rest of the week as authorities work to remove debris from a treatment plant.

There is a chance the storm could intensify again in the Gulf of Carpentaria on the weekend or off the Northern Territory's Top End Coast early next week, the Bureau of Meteorology said.