Cyclone Debbie crosses Queensland coast

Cyclone Debbie crosses Queensland coast

NEWS: goo.gl/a3kAcQ



Cyclone Debbie is expected to make landfall south of Bowen Tuesday afternoon after it hit the Whitsunday Islands this morning.



The Australian Bureau of Meteorology upgraded Cyclone Debbie to a Category 4 storm overnight. A Category 4 storm has sustained winds in the range of 160 to 200 kilometres per hour, with gusts up to 280 kilometres per hour and it is just one rung below the most dangerous wind and speed level.



The cyclone hit the Whitsunday Islands, a popular tourist destination in the heart of the Great Barrier Reef, around 7am AEST on Tuesday.



More than 20,000 households are without power and 400 schools and childcare centres have been closed.





The cyclone is expected to make landfall south of Bowen at 2pm AEST. Around 300 people have been evacuated in shelters in Bowen and Prosperpine and thousands have lost power.



The Australian Bureau of Meteorology said Debbie continued to gather strength, despite slowing its progress during the night - the storm had been expected to make landfall several hours earlier than the most recent forecast.



It is expected to be the most powerful storm to hit the state of Queensland since Cyclone Yasi destroyed homes and crops and devastated island resorts in 2011.



"The eye itself is probably 50 kilometres across," said senior forecaster Adam Blazak.



Suncorp said in a statement to the ASX on Monday it was well protected against the financial impact of Cyclone Debbie because it has a reinsurance protection program.





The insurer said claim costs from the cyclone are expected to be "fully covered" by a combination of Suncorp's main catastrophe program and the additional natural hazard program.



QBE Australia said on Monday the insurer is "well prepared" for the arrival of the cyclone, and assessors and builders were on standby in Queensland. The insurer said it had plans to fly further people in to respond as quickly as possible to its customers.



"Our claims teams are ready to assist and we will have additional people manning the phones in the days and weeks ahead," QBE spokeswoman said.



Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk has warned the vast size of the cyclone - the worst to hit Queensland since Yasi six years ago - means the devastating core could take three hours to pass, and people should expect to be holed up for the entire day.



Authorities urged thousands of people in low-lying areas at risk from tidal surges and winds of up to 300 km per hour to flee their homes on Monday in what would be the biggest evacuation seen in Australia since Cyclone Tracy struck the northern city of Darwin in 1974.



Townsville Airport was closed and airlines Qantas, Jetstar, Rex and Virgin Australia said they had cancelled several flights to and from the region.



The Abbot Point coal terminal and ports at Mackay and Hay Point were closed. BHP Billiton suspended operations at its South Walker Creek coal mine and Glencore halted operations at the Collinsville and Newlands coal mines.



Queensland produces some 95 per cent of Australian bananas and while Cyclone Debbie is on course to miss the largest growing regions in the state's far north, analysts said heavy rains and strong winds could cause significant crop damage.



Greg Williamson, the mayor of the town of Mackay, which lies in the path of the storm, said the cyclone had proved more unpredictable than initially forecast.



"It's been a matter of trying to second-guess where it's going to happen," he told the ABC. "It's trying to make strategic decisions with assets and people's lives."



Police blamed the wild weather associated with the storm for a traffic accident on Monday in which a 31-year-old female tourist died.