Thousands evacuated as ‘nasty’ Cyclone Debbie prepares to hit Australia
Thousands of people including tourists were evacuated on Monday as northeast Australia braced for a powerful cyclone packing destructive winds, with warnings of major structural damage and surging tides.
This is going to be a nasty cyclone ... These wind gusts are going to be absolutely huge
Cyclone Debbie has been forming off the coast of Queensland state over recent days, the Bureau of Meteorology said, and is expected to make landfall as a category four storm – on a scale of five – after daybreak Tuesday.
“This is going to be a nasty cyclone,” said Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk, adding that structural damage and power outages were likely. “These wind gusts are going to be absolutely huge and my primary concern is making sure that families are safe.”
So far more than 3,500 people have been evacuated between the towns of Home Hill and Proserpine, around 100km south of Townsville, a tourist hot-spot used to access the Great Barrier Reef.
Another 2,000 in the coastal town of Bowen were also on the move, Palaszczuk said, with cyclone shelters available for those with nowhere else to go.
Thousands more in low-lying areas of Mackay were urged to head to higher ground amid fears the storm could cause a tidal surge up to 2.5 metres.
Debbie was currently a category three cyclone but was expected to build to a four by the time it crosses land somewhere between Townsville and Proserpine, with wind gusts of up 280 km/h near the centre, the meteorology bureau said.