_ct140x105.jpg "AND SO IT BEGINS: The clean up around town has already started, people armed with brooms and buckets have taken to the Gladstone Valley Square Shopping Centre to flush out the floodwater and mess.")
Evacuation centre still not open, despite latest update
MACKAY'S only cyclone shelter at Northern Beaches State High School is still closed, despite the latest weather update from the Bureau of Meteorology.
The bureau has forecast that the system has moved further south and is on target to hit south of Bowen.
EVACUATION AREA MAPS FOR MACKAY HERE
EVACUATION MAPS FOR TOWNSVILLE, BURDEKIN, WHITSUNDAY LOCAL GOVERNMENT AREAS
Mackay Regional Council has ordered the evacuation of low lying areas in Mackay because of the expected storm surge associated with the cyclone.
FOLLOW THE TOPIC CYCLONE DEBBIE FOR THE LATEST UPDATES HERE
The council is advising people to evacuate to friends and family homes.
#Mackay council does mass text alert to 'prepare and act for inundation' from #CycloneDebbie pic.twitter.com/GkK0D94GWR
— Rowan Hunnam (@rowanhunnam) March 27, 2017
The cyclone shelter will only open if the cyclone crosses straight over Mackay and it is greater than category three at the time.
While the system is a category three, it's not forecast to hit Mackay directly.
