کد خبر: 189934
Massive cyclone makes landfall in northeastern Australia


There were fears the tempest’s arrival would coincide with early morning high tides, causing severe flooding, but its progress slowed before it crossed the coastline between the towns of Bowen and Airlie Beach.


“It felt like we were underneath a freight train for most of the night, strong base rumbles as the... wind rattled past and made the buildings shake,” Cameron Berkman, who is holidaying on Hayman Island, told the Australian Broadcasting Corporation.


“Trees down in Airlie Beach and reports of windows shattering and some roofs starting to cave in,” he tweeted.

The Bureau of Meteorology, which forecast up to 500 millimeters (50 cm) of rain, said people should stay calm and not be complacent as the eye of the storm passes.

“Do not venture outside if you find yourself in the eye of the cyclone -- very destructive winds from a different direction could resume at any time,” it said. “People in the path of the very dangerous cyclone should stay calm and remain in a secure shelter.”

Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk, who warned the storm was shaping up as a “monster” and would last for hours, said more than 30,000 homes were already without power.

‘Pounding, Pounding’ 

Queensland Police Commissioner Ian Stewart said Debbie's slow pace was having “a battering ram effect.”

“These winds are going to keep pounding, pounding, pounding,” he said. “I suspect before the day is out, we will see a lot of structural damage in the cyclone’s path.”



Some 3,500 people were evacuated between the towns of Home Hill and Proserpine, around 100 kilometers (62 miles) south of Townsville, a tourist hotspot and access to the Great Barrier Reef.





“Yasi had a big tail on it, and they never told us anything about that and it blew like hell,” he told AFP as he sheltered in a refuge with dozens of others.


“If it comes through here it will be over. It will lay flat on the ground, we won't be harvesting, we will have no crops left,” he said. “It means we start from scratch again. All the money down the drain. That is not good.”

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