Australia evacuates coastal cities in path of cyclone

Mines, rail lines and coal ports were closed in Queensland state as Cyclone Yasi headed toward the coast. Up to a third of Australia's sugar crop was also under threat, officials said.

"This storm is huge and life threatening," Queensland Premier Anna Bligh said, warning the system was intensifying and picking up speed on its path from the Coral Sea, with destructive winds expected on Wednesday morning.

Cyclone Yasi is expected to generate winds of up to 280 kph (175 mph) when it hits the northern coast of tropical Queensland state early on Thursday, matching the strength of Katrina, which devastated New Orleans in 2005.

With a strong monsoon feeding Yasi's 650 km (400 mile) wide front, the storm was also expected to maintain its intensity long after smashing into the coast and could sweep inland as far as the outback mining city of Mt Isa, 900 km (600 miles) inland.

More than 400,000 people live in the cyclone's expected path, including the cities of Cairns, Townsville and Mackay, which are also main tourist areas and take in Australia's Great Barrier Reef.

Queensland, which accounts for about a fifth of Australia's economy and 90 percent of steelmaking coal exports worth about $20 billion a year, has had a cruel summer, with floods sweeping the eastern seaboard over the past month, killing 35 people.

"There's no time for complacency," said Mike Brunker, mayor of the Whitsunday area near the Great Barrier Reef. "People in low-lying areas are evacuating to friends and family or, if they have to, leave town."

Satellite radar images showed Yasi as a massive storm covering almost the entire Coral Sea and moving toward Australia from near Vanuatu.

Among the areas in its path is the small tourist area of Mission Beach, which was flattened by Cyclone Larry in 2006.

"It's a beautiful day today, but all of the tourists have now gone and we're just preparing everything for the cyclone," Mission Beach resident Elvira Montgomery told Reuters.

"They are warning of a four meter (13 foot) tidal surge, so everything might all end up under water."

Authorities said Cyclone Yasi could be the most destructive cyclone to hit the area. They hope the cyclone will cross the coast at low tide, limiting the impact of tidal flooding.

A sugar industry official said it could threaten about a third of the state's sugar cane crop.

Island resorts in the Whitsundays and parts of the tourism hub of Cairns and military town of Townsville were being evacuated along with other areas in the danger zone, between Cooktown in the north and near Mackay, a port, further south.

Military transport aircraft also helped evacuate the main hospitals in Cairns. A further 9,000 people in Cairns were also told to evacuate their homes due to expected tidal floods. Extra commercial flights were scheduled to cope with an expected exodus of holidaymakers and residents; Kazinform cites Arab News.

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