THE arrival of tropical cyclone Ilsa forced residents and foreign tourists to evacuate and avoid the path of the powerful storm.
The storm made landfall on the northern coast of Western Australia just before midnight on Thursday.
The cyclone upgraded to Category 5 as it passed through the Indian Ocean on Thursday and was expected to maintain that destructive level early Friday.
According to Australia’s Bureau of Meteorology, Category 5 cyclones have extraordinary wind speeds exceeding 200 kph, with gusts exceeding 280 kph, and typically cause widespread destruction.
Residents between Broome and Port Hedland have been advised to find shelter or evacuate their homes while the police closed the highway along the Pilbara coast to prevent motorists from traveling in worsening conditions.
Emergency services were also deployed in the area which is home to around 30,000 or more people.
Evacuation centers have opened in Port Hedland for people whose homes might not be able to withstand the storm.
The weather event has been forecasted to be the most intense cyclone in 8 years.
The last time Australia encountered a category 5 storm was Cyclone Marcia in 2015 which caused hundreds of millions of dollars of damage in Queensland.
