Severe Tropical Cyclone Marcia is moving south, weakening

1. Friday, Feb. 20, 5 p.m. AEST: We are wrapping up the live blog of Cyclone Marcia for Friday. Major updates will be outlined above.

2. Severe Tropical Cyclone Marcia is moving south, weakening

3. Friday, Feb. 20, 4:50 p.m. AEST / Jenni Ryall
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5. Tropical Cyclone Marcia remains a Category 3 storm and is heading south at 20 kilometres per hour. The Bureau of Meteorology said Marcia is expected to turn to the south-southeast this evening and to weaken below cyclone strength on Saturday morning.
6. Winds are moving at 120 kilometres per hour with wind gusts to 165 kilometres per hour, as the eye of the cyclone passes Gladstone.
7. Strong winds are expected in Brisbane Saturday, along with an expected king tide that could cause flooding in south-east Queensland.
8. "They are predicting that winds could rise tomorrow afternoon and tomorrow we are expecting to see between 200 millimetres and 300 millimetres of water," Brisbane's Mayor Graham Quirk said, according to the Brisbane Times.Whether flooding occurs in the city will depend on whether that amount of rain falls during a short time period.
9. Warnings in the hardest hit town of Yeppoon have been downgraded by the Bureau. Premier Palaszczuk said a catastrophe in the area had been avoided, due to the storm weakening before it hit the coastal community.

10. Path of destruction after Cyclone Marcia, Government pledges help

11. Friday, Feb. 20, 4:13 p.m. AEST / Jenni Ryall
12. Queensland Police have warned this is not the time for sightseeing and residents in Queensland should stay indoors.
13. In the central Queensland towns hit by the force of Cyclone Marcia some homes have severe structural damage, missing roofs and walls. Power lines have fallen down, as palm trees have turned into spears and punctured the windows of cars.
14. No reports of injuries have been received and the extent of the damage will not be able to be assessed until the storm passes, authorities said at a press conference.