Australia Tracking Category 5 Storm as It Prepares to Make Landfall Over Coastal Towns

Australia is tracking its highest category storm in years after tropical Cyclone Ilsa developed into a highest-severity category five system and is expected to cross Western Australia’s coast with winds up to 285 kilometres ( around 177 miles) per hour.

Initially expected to make landfall as a category four system, the Bureau of Meteorology forecast for the cyclone was upgraded on Thursday afternoon as it moved closer to the Australian town of Port Hedland.

It will now likely cross the coast as the highest category of storm about 150km north, near the remote fuel station Pardoo Roadhouse, and late on Thursday rather than early Friday.

The manager of the station, Will Batth, said he was planning to stay and hunker down with a colleague once the storm hit.

“We haven’t had any as strong as this in many years. This is a big one,” he told AAP.

“(But) there’s no point in worrying. I can’t stop it.”

Batth said a few cars were still travelling on the North West Coastal Highway, but the roadhouse had closed for business, and most staff had evacuated to Port Hedland.

Wind gusts up to 285km/h are likely near the cyclone’s centre as it crosses the coast.

Port Hedland Mayor Peter Carter said an eerie quiet had descended over the town of 16,000 as residents prepared for impact.

“What’s happening with this cyclone is very unusual, and a lot of people are getting very worried because it’s getting closer and closer to Port Hedland,” he said.

“At the moment, it’s very quiet, but this thing is supposed to hit us in 14 hours (and) that could change again.

“The longer it stays out in the ocean, the bigger it’s going to get (and) the more powerful it’s going to get.”

Carter said an evacuation centre had been set up in Port Hedland for residents who don’t feel safe in their homes, and the town’s massive port that exports iron ore around the world had been emptied of ships.

“Most infrastructure is designed for cyclones. It’s the flying debris that we worry about,” Carter said.

“Your wheelie bin, your barbecue, your gas bottle … put it away. No one wants them to become missiles.”

Communities from Bidyadanga to Whim Creek, including Port Hedland and inland to Marble Bar, Nullagine and Telfer, have been urged to keep their emergency kits on hand.

Abnormally high tides, destructive winds and up to 300mm of rain are forecast.

Workers and tourists at Eighty Mile Beach caravan park and nearby Wallal Downs cattle station have been evacuated, along with non-critical workers from Newcrest’s Telfer mine and Fortescue Metal Group and BHP’s sites across the region.

Extra emergency workers, essential supplies and aircraft have been sent to the area.

Communities from Beagle Bay to Broome have been given the all-clear but asked to watch for residual damage, including fallen trees and power lines.

Ilsa is forecast to maintain tropical cyclone intensity into Friday as it tracks inland to Telfer and moves east.