A tropical cyclone nearing Australia is forecast to be the most powerful storm in 12 years to hit the country, bringing wind gusts of up to 315 kilometers (196 miles) per hour as it crosses the northwest coast, meteorologists said Thursday.
Cyclones are common along the sparsely populated Pilbara coast of Western Australia state and fatalities are rare, but authorities fear that Cyclone Ilsa’s extraordinary wind speeds could take some in its path by surprise.
The last Category 5 storm to cross the Australian coast was Cyclone Yasi in 2011. Yasi caused hundreds of millions of dollars in damage in the east coast state of Queensland. The only death blamed on the storm was a man killed by exhaust fumes from a electricity generator he had used in a confined space.
“We haven’t had any as strong as this in many years. This is a big one,” Batth said. “There’s no point in worrying. I can’t stop it.” Bidyadanga, home to around 700 people midway between Wallal Downs Station and Broome, stocked enough food and fuel by Thursday to last a week in case the community is isolated by floodwater. Bidyadanga CEO Tania Baxter said maintaining the community’s electricity would be critical to how they weather the storm.
“Everyone is on edge,” Carter said. “They understand that cyclones are what they are. They’re very, very unpredictable.”
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