Cyclone Debbie: 'Monster' storm reaches Australian islands

[Eugene]

Source: BBC

Cyclone Debbie: 'Monster' storm reaches Australian islands

28 March 2017 Australia

A cyclone carrying winds of up to 250km/h (155 mph) has battered Australian holiday islands as it moves towards the Queensland coast.

Tens of thousands of people have been evacuated in preparation for Cyclone Debbie, a Category four storm.

Its destructive eye has already hit the Whitsunday islands and is expected to reach the mainland by 12:00 local time (02:00 GMT) on Tuesday.

Authorities said it would be the area's worst storm since Cyclone Yasi in 2011.

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Read more: http://www.bbc.com/news/world-australia-39409693

[canetoad]

1. Landfall imminent (about 90 mins)

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2017-03-28/bom-warning-cyclone-debbie-hours-from-hitting-north-queensland/8391174

The destructive core of Cyclone Debbie is already being felt along the north Queensland coastline, with the eye of the slow-moving category four storm passing over Hayman Island and hurricane-force winds battering the Whitsunday Islands.

About 25,000 people in low-lying areas have been urged to reach higher ground ahead of an expected storm surge.

Hayman Island is being lashed with gusts of up to 232 kilometres per hour, and at 2:00pm the storm's eye is forecast to hit the mainland near Bowen, where the streets are deserted.


The eye itself is estimated to be about 50 kilometres wide.

Once crossing the coast, the cyclone would remain as a category three over land for 18 hours, said the police commander in charge of the state's disaster response, Deputy Commissioner Steve Gollschewsk

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Certainly glad to be nowhere near there!