High winds and heavy rainfall batter resorts along Great Barrier Reef,
with some damage reported.
The storm cut power for tens of thousands of people
Cyclone Debbie has made landfall in
northeast Australia, with lashing
rain and howling winds battering
the area and towns going into
lockdown.
The category four storm - on a scale
of five - began crossing the
Queensland state coast on Tuesday,
packing destructive wind gusts of up
to 270 kilometre per hour near its
wide core, the Bureau of
Meteorology said.
Authorities urged some 30,000
people to evacuate before the storm
hit island resorts along the Great
Barrier Reef.
Before hitting the shore, the storm
swept the Whitsunday Islands,
where tourists waited out the storm
in hotel rooms.
"We're getting some reports already
of roofs starting to lift, including at
some of our own facilities in the
Whitsundays," Queensland Police
Deputy Commissioner Steve
Gollschewski told Australian
Broadcasting Corporation television.
Authorities stockpiled food and fuel,
and the army was on standby to deal
with the aftermath.
However, as winds cut power to
about 23,000 people, emergency
response crews were also hunkered
down until the storm blew over.
Authorities urged thousands of
people in low-lying areas at risk
from tidal surges and strong winds
to flee their homes on Monday, in
what would be the biggest
evacuation seen in Australia since
Cyclone Tracy devastated the
northern city of Darwin in 1974.
However, police told Reuters they
were not sure how many people had
heeded that advice.
Ports at Abbot Point, Mackay and
Hay Point were shut, Townsville
airport was closed and airlines
Qantas, Jetstar, Rex and Virgin
Australia cancelled several flights to
and from the region.
BHP Billiton and Glencore halted
work at their coal mines in the
storm's path.
Source: News agencies
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