Category 4 Cyclone Debbie slams into Queensland, Australia
A powerful cyclone slammed into the northeastern coast of Australia in the state of Queensland early Tuesday local time with winds estimated at up to 120 mph.
One death has already been blamed on the cyclone when a tourist was killed amid stormy weather between Bowen and Mackay on Monday, according to the Sydney Morning Herald.
People living in low-lying areas in Mackay were urged to evacuate on Monday afternoon because of a predicted storm surge of up to 8 feet. Up to 25,000 people are affected, and residents have been told to prepare for flooding, the newspaper said.
The strong winds are also capable of causing damage to buildings, widespread power outages and life-threatening airborne debris, AccuWeather said.
Colorado State University hurricane expert Phil Klotzbach said the storm is "extremely dangerous" in a tweet Monday.
The population of Queensland, a state in northeastern Australia, is about 4.6 million. The capital is Brisbane, Australia's third-largest city. The storm is hitting about 600 miles northwest of Brisbane.
According to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Queensland has been hit by nine tropical cyclones of Category 3 or higher strength on the Saffir-Simpson Scale since 1989. Four of these storms have hit since 2011, the Weather Underground said.
In the Indian Ocean and near Australia, these storms are called tropical cyclones, which is the same type of storm as a hurricane or typhoon in other parts of the world. As is the case with all storms in the Southern Hemisphere, Debbie is spinning clockwise, unlike the counterclockwise spin of storms in the Northern Hemisphere.