The storm brought torrential rain and strong winds to the area 1,875 kilometres (1,163 miles) north of Brisbane and forced residents to take shelter in secure buildings.

Weather forecaster Manfred Greitschus said the storm was about 35 kilometres southeast of Lockhart River and moving west at about 18 kilometres an hour.

"It's just crossing the coast at the moment," he told AFP.

"We've had wind gusts to date of about 100 kilometres an hour near Lockhart River," he said, adding that winds were expected to reach more than 200 kilometres an hour.

Greitschus said the storm, rated a category three on a scale where five is the maximum, was expected to abate during the evening.

"It's still a category three but it's expected to weaken over the next 12 hours," he said.

Peter Buckland, head of the local council, said it was too early to say whether the storm had caused much damage but it had flattened trees like a bulldozer.

"My house backed onto bush, or it used to, and it just looks like a D9 (bulldozer) has gone through the bush," he told ABC radio.

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