Tropical Cyclone Marcia hit the Queensland coast between St Lawrence and Yeppoon.

Arriving as a Category Five storm, it has now been downgraded to a Three but forecasters are warning of heavy rain and abnormally high tides.

Separately, Tropical Cyclone Lam hit the Northern Territory.

Lam, which arrived as a Category Four, struck Elcho Island and is moving south-west. Local residents said roofs had been torn off from a number of houses and trees uprooted.

There have been no reports of injuries there, and the storm was later downgraded to Category Two as it continued moving inland.

'Real moving beast'

In its latest update, Australia's Bureau of Meteorology (BoM) said Marcia was expected to move south and gradually weaken.

"The very destructive core... with gusts to 205 km/h (127mph), is currently impacting the Yeppoon and Rockhampton areas," it said.

Destructive winds were expected to extend further south and inland across the Capricornia and Burnett districts, it added.

Local residents should be prepared for an evacuation if advised by the authorities, the BoM added. It also warned about possible tidal and flash flooding.

(BBC News)