It is day one for evacuees fleeing the destructive path of tropical cyclone Trevor and while they are now safe, they fear for their homes left behind.
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Hundreds of residents from remote communities on the NT east coast, chiefly from Numbulwar, began arriving to the temporary evacuation set up at the Katherine Showgrounds yesterday afternoon.
TC Trevor is expected to make landfall tomorrow at noon as a severe category four.
With winds expected to reach up to 275kmh evacuees are worried they could be returning to flattened towns.
Arriving on one of the many buses from Numbulwar yesterday, with his family and four small dogs, Timothy Hall has a positive outlook, but is "very worried" about his house and pets left behind.
He said he is expecting to return to destroyed houses in his community about 450km away from Katherine, as well as a big clean up.
"The main thing we are worried about is we will have no house when we get back," Mr Hall said.
"We have heard a lot of stories about cyclones, and they are usually bad.
"[A cyclone] has never hit Numbulwar like this before, we have lived there for a long time and we have never had to be evacuated.
"It is going to take a long time to get back on our feet," he said.
Mr Hall and his family were issued a tent on arrival, which have been set up by RAAF Base Tindal personnel to deal with the mass influx of people to Katherine.
With little time to prepare for the evacuation, they arrived with the clothes on their backs and not much else.
Through friends and family also at the evacuation site, Mr Hall has heard he could be calling the temporary set up home for more than a week.
"We are worried about how long we will have to stay here.
"We didn't arrive with much, we didn't have time to get blankets, but we have managed to ask our family to borrow things.
"We thought there would be everything here, but there are just tents and beds."
Despite deep concerns about their home town, Mr Hall said he is happy his family is on safe grounds.
"We are worried about our big cemetery with the winds that are coming, and we are worried about the house and our dogs we have left behind.
"But my family is safe, we are not worried about food, and we have shelter," Mr Hall said.
He said he is hoping the government will provide assistance in the impending clean up of Numbulwar once Trevor's destructive winds have passed.
"We'll just wait until help arrives.
"Everything is all good, we just have to wait until the cyclone passes and then we will go home and go from there," he said.
Meanwhile, the Bureau of Meteorology has this afternoon issued further alerts.
TC Trevor is a large system, with destructive and damaging winds lashing out 200-300kms from its centre - this means that the dangerous system will affect large areas of the Gulf of Carpentaria waters, coastal and inland areas
The first impacts of the system will be gale force winds likely on Groote Eylandt and Mornington Island from later this afternoon, reaching most southern coastal areas of the Gulf (between Cape Shield and Karumba) during tonight.
Very dangerous storm tides, with damaging waves will likely lead to in flooding in coastal areas in the warning area from the early hours of Saturday morning
The very destructive core of Trevor will lash the southwestern coast of the Gulf on Saturday morning, with gusts of around 275km/h, strong enough to cause significant damage to vegetation and infrastructure around the core of the system
From Saturday morning, gale force winds from the powerful cyclone will reach inland areas of the NT, including parts of Doomadgee, McArthur River, Wollogorang and Brunette Downs
The whole of the Gulf of Carpentaria will remain very dangerous this weekend, with a hurricane force wind warning for the Roper Groote Coast today and tomorrow, and strong winds on Sunday.
The eastern Carpentaria District will experience heavy rainfall as the system passes through the area on Saturday with widespread 150-250mm rainfall totals possible and isolated falls to 350mm around the coast.
Sunday and beyond:
The system is expected to remain at Tropical Cyclone strength for around 24 hours after it makes landfall on Saturday, bringing heavy 24 hour rainfall and damaging winds as the system tracks inland on Sunday.
The Barkly region can expect widespread 3-day rainfall totals of between 50mm and 100mm with damaging winds around the low with the peak in rainfall on Sunday.
Heavier falls in the 100mm to 200mm range, with isolated 300mm totals are forecast to extend around 250-300kms around the core of ex-Tropical Cyclone Trevor as it tracks southwest towards Tennant Creek (which is likely to see event total rainfall of between 80mm to 150mm).
A flood watch is current for the Carpentaria Coastal Rivers and Barkly region as the system will lead to significant stream rises and localised flooding - roads in the area may become unpassable and communities isolated as a result.
Winds driven by the cyclone are likely to lead to more squally storms across the Western Top End, including Darwin.
Power and Water Corporation has advised the Department of Health to expect disruptions to water supplies in Borroloola, Groote Eylandt, Ngukurr, and Numbulwar, as Tropical Cyclone Trevor may damage water supply infrastructure as it moves across the Gulf region.
If the power supply goes out during the cyclone to be on the safe side, the Department of Health recommends that water for drinking, making food and cleaning your teeth be obtained from either packaged bottled water or by bringing tap water to the boil and allowing to cool prior to use.
The Department of Health will advise on the removal of this Precautionary Advice once advice has been received that the water supply system is fully operational and the water is safe to drink.
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