() — A major cyclone is intensifying off the coast of Western Australia with warnings that it could be the most powerful storm to make landfall in the area in more than a decade with winds strong enough to lift caravans and trampolines.
The Australian Bureau of Meteorology (BOM) said Cyclone Ilsa is expected to make landfall this Thursday night or early Friday, somewhere between the cities of Broome and Port Hedland, a major port hub for the export of ore. of iron.
The storm is expected to generate wind gusts of more than 250 kilometers per hour by Thursday night, which is equivalent to a category 4 or 5 hurricane in the US.
“Winds of this force not only have the ability to bring down trees and power lines, but they can lift objects from your yard and home: caravans, trampolines,” said BOM Principal Meteorologist Miriam Bradbury.
Cyclone Ilsa threatens the West Coast of Australia with winds of up to 250 km/h. (Credit: Weather)
Local authorities warned residents to tie up anything that could blow away in high winds.
Tourists staying along the part of the coast between Broome and Port Hedland have been told to stay out of the storm’s projected path. Others have rushed to supermarkets to stock up on food and other supplies.
Broome and Port Hedland are relatively small towns with a combined population of around 30,000 people. Many people employed by the iron ore mines live and work in Port Hedland.
On Tuesday, the Pilbara Port Authority said it was removing boats from all berths in the inner harbor of Port Hedland Harbor and urged recreational boaters to secure their vessels.
Cyclones are common on Australia’s west coast, and the Met Office recorded seven of them last year.
Australia uses a five-tier system to measure the intensity of tropical cyclones, where category 4 represents those with average wind speeds between 160 and 199 km/h, with typical wind gusts of more than 225 km/h. .
Darren Klemm, Western Australia Fire and Emergency Services Commissioner, said it had been 10 years since a cyclone of that size hit the Australian coast.
“There will be a lot of people up there who haven’t experienced a Category 4 cyclone before,” he said.
The north coast of Western Australia has been hit by 13 Category 4 hurricane equivalent storms since 1960, but this would be the first since Tropical Cyclone Laurence in 2009, which struck in a very similar location with 150mph winds at landfall. .
The strongest storm to hit any part of Australia was Tropical Cyclone Monica, which arrived in 2006 with sustained winds of around 290 km/h as it swept across eastern and northern Australia.
Australia has experienced a series of natural disasters in recent years. Last year, flooding affected parts of the states of New South Wales and Queensland.
