Please turn on JavaScript. Media requires JavaScript to play.
Forecaster Darren Betts: Ita "will bring destructive winds and flooding"
The Australian state of Queensland is braced for the arrival of Cyclone Ita, a category-four storm set to hit its far north coast.
The storm is expected to hit the Cape York peninsula shortly, making landfall in the north-east.
It was expected to bring damaging waves to some low-lying areas, the Bureau of Meteorology (BOM) said, and heavy rain could cause flooding.
It is the strongest storm to hit since Cyclone Yasi, which struck in 2011.
Ita is expected to make landfall in the evening local time (10 hours ahead of GMT) near Cape Flattery in north-east Queensland.
Previously classed as a category-five storm, it was downgraded by the BOM at 17:51 local time (07:51 GMT) to category four.
The cyclone "poses a serious threat to communities along the far north Queensland coast", the BOM said in a statement.
It predicted "very destructive winds of up to 275 km/hour (170mph) near the core and gales extending out to 185km from the centre".
Now that the cyclone is making landfall, winds will decrease quickly over the next 24 hours, BBC weather's Chris Fawkes said.
As the storm is compact, with a small radius, winds are expected to decrease rapidly away from the eye of the storm, he added.
'Blowing its guts out'The Cape York peninsula is sparsely populated, with residents concentrated in a number of towns.
A cyclone warning is in place in coastal areas including Cooktown, Port Douglas and Cairns, and several inland areas, the BOM said.
Cooktown Mayor Peter Scott said in quotes carried by ABC that around 350 people were in the town's cyclone shelter.
"In polite terms it's blowing its guts out at the moment," he said. "We had a power outage... but power has [now] been restored".
The BOM warned coastal residents of a "dangerous storm tide" as the cyclone crossed the coast.
"Very heavy rain, which may lead to flash flooding," was also developing in parts of north-east Queensland, the bureau added.
On Thursday, Queensland Premier Campbell Newman urged people to be ready for a "storm surge".
"The other big concern," he added, "will be the normal high winds that can cause debris flying around... [and] very intense rain causing quite severe local flooding."
'Like a movie'Keith Whiting, who lives in Port Douglas, told the BBC he had been felling dead trees and removing any objects that winds could pick up.
"We have prepared a safe room in the middle of the house downstairs, bought water, charged the torches and now we wait," he said.
"If she swings any further south when she leaves, she will take the house."
Stacey Owen, who lives in Cairns, said it was already wet and blustery.
"All the local shops and businesses here closed at noon," she said. "Before that all the shops were sold out of essentials like bread, milk and water."
Bethan Knapp, a doctor at a clinic in Cairns, told the BBC: "All pregnant women over 38 weeks have been advised to evacuate and chronic disease patients have been visited by a doctor to ensure they have emergency medical packs and instructions... It's like something out of a movie."
"We have been told our power will probably go down and may be like that for a week."
Cyclone Ita brought torrential rain to the Solomon Islands late last week, causing flash floods that left at least 21 people dead.
Are you in Queensland? Are you making preparations for Cyclone Ita? If you would be happy to speak with the BBC please email haveyoursay@bbc.co.uk using subject Cyclone Ita.
Send your pictures and videos to yourpics@bbc.co.uk or text them to 61124 (UK) or +44 7624 800 100 (International). If you have a large file you can upload here.
Read the terms and conditions
Anda sedang membaca artikel tentang
Queensland braced for Cyclone Ita
Dengan url
http://worldartikelku.blogspot.com/2014/04/queensland-braced-for-cyclone-ita.html
Anda boleh menyebar luaskannya atau mengcopy paste-nya
Queensland braced for Cyclone Ita
namun jangan lupa untuk meletakkan link
Queensland braced for Cyclone Ita
sebagai sumbernya
0 komentar:
Posting Komentar