MELBOURNE: A powerful cyclone is intensifying off the coast of Western Australia and is predicted to make landfall late Thursday or Friday morning local time as one of the strongest storms in the region in almost 10 years.
Tropical Cyclone Ilsa, a category four storm, is predicted to make landfall some 500 kilometres (310 miles) west of Broome. It could bring “very destructive” winds of up to 275 km/h (170 mph), authorities said.
Authorities have delivered food and fuel to remote areas and have advised people to hoard water.
A yellow alert has been issued for several remote towns including Port Hedland – the world’s biggest iron ore exporting port with an urban population of 15000 – ordering people to be ready to shelter.
Port Hedland’s mayor Peter Carter said evacuation centres have been set up in the town.
“Everyone is on edge,” Carter told the Australian Broadcasting Corporation. “They understand that cyclones are what they are. They are very, very unpredictable.”
Some 700 residents were being evacuated from the remote community of Bidyadanga, the fire service said.
Winds in the cyclone’s “very destructive core” could reach up to 275 km/h on Thursday night into Friday morning local time, before the storm moves inland, Australia’s Bureau Of Meteorology (BOM) has said.
The BOM also warned of abnormally high tides and up to 400mm of rain, with the storm’s impact expected to be felt across a 600km region from Port Hedland to just south of Broome.
Cyclone Trevor was the last category four storm to make landfall in Australia after it hit the Northern Territory and Queensland in 2019.
