‘Eerily silent’: Cape York residents batten down the hatches ahead of Tropical Cyclone Narelle’s arrival

Residents of Coen and surrounding towns in far north Queensland spent Thursday sandbagging, stockpiling food and preparing for power outages ahead of possible category 5 storm

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In some ways, it seemed a pleasant, wet season morning in the remote Aboriginal community of Coen in tropical far north Queensland on Thursday – and Sara Watkins was preparing for a sausage sizzle.

“It’s a day that you’d spend going fishing,” she said.