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Cyclone Ilsa, located about 300km off Australia’s coast in the Indian Ocean, is expected to make landfall as early as Thursday night as a category four storm – one rung below strongest category five – packing winds of up to 275kmph, the Bureau of Meteorology said.
“They’ve got a lot of strength in them, the ability to not only destroy trees and knock down power lines but lift up those loose items in the yard, including trailers and caravans,” meteorologist Miriam Bradbury told ABC television.
The weather bureau said in its latest update Ilsa could impact a 600km sparsely populated stretch from just north of Port Hedland eastwards to just south of tourist town Broome.
Port Hedland is the world’s biggest export point for iron ore and is used by BHP Group, Fortescue and billionaire Gina Rinehart’s Hancock Prospecting. Rio Tinto exports out of Port of Dampier, which lies to the west of Port Hedland.
The weather bureau said Port Hedland may be spared by “the very destructive core of Ilsa” but winds with gusts of up to 155kmph could still lash the mining town.
It will be the strongest system to hit the country’s far northwest region since Cyclone Christine crossed the coast in December 2013, weather bureau forecaster Jessica Lingard said.
BHP in an emailed response said it was closely tracking the cyclone but its mining and rail operations were continuing.
A yellow alert, which orders residents to be ready to shelter from a cyclone, has been issued for several remote towns. The alert covered Port Hedland, where the majority of the 15,000 residents are employees of mining companies.
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