RESIDENTS north of Cairns are evacuating their homes as the weather bureau forecasts Ita turning into the worst kind of cyclone - a category five.
The weather bureau now advises people in far north Queensland living 200 kilometres inland to be prepared.
People are being evacuated between Cape Grenville and Cape Tribulation, just north of Cairns, as Cyclone Ita is upgraded to warning status.
While Ita is still a category three over the Coral Sea, Bureau of Meteorology forecaster Peter Otto says it could intensify into a category five system, the most destructive kind of cyclone since Yasi hit the state's north in 2011.
