03 February,2011 07:32 AM IST | | Agencies
Severe Tropical Cyclone Yasi, a top-category storm, hit the Australian coast yesterday, the weather bureau said, packing destructive winds which were expected to rage for hours.
Still a top-level category five storm as it made landfall, Yasi touched down near the popular tourist spot of Mission Beach, bringing howling winds and extremely dangerous tidal surges.
Coastal settlements would be buffeted by gusts of up to 290 kilometres (175 miles) per hour and the bureau said the "very destructive core" would take four hours to pass.
Strong winds batter a deserted Esplanade evacuated ahead of a huge tidal storm surge predicted to accompany Cyclone Yasi in Cairns yesterday
Destructive and damaging winds of between 125 and 90 kilometres per hour would persist today as far west as Mount Isa, some 900 kilometres from the coast, it added.
Queensland Premier Anna Bligh has warned of a terrifying night for the one million people in Yasi's path, with major cities losing power as advance winds cleared a path for the monster cyclone, sending trees and roofing tin flying.
The first category five storm to hit the region since 1918, Yasi is expected to be one of the worst cyclones in Australia's history.
"Without doubt we are set to encounter scenes of devastation and heartbreak on an unprecedented scale," Bligh said earlier as the storm bore down.
"This cyclone is like nothing we have ever dealt with before as a nation."
Queensland is still reeling after January's devastating floods swamped scores of towns and killed more than
30 people in Australia's most expensive natural disaster on record.
1918
The year in which the last comparable storm hit Queensland and killed 90 people. The Yasi winds are believed to be even stronger than Hurricane Katrina
