Australia braces for cyclone Yasi

Australians braced Wednesday for the ‘worst cyclone in Australian history’ to hit the state of Queensland as it recovers from deadly flooding earlier this month.

Satellite image showing Yasi approaching the Queensland coast Reuters

Tropical Cyclone Yasi's winds began battering hundreds of kilometres of Queensland coast as officials told residents it was now too late to try to escape the storm.

"The time for movement and evacuation has now passed," state Premier Anna Bligh said, terming Yasi "the most catastrophic storm to ever hit our coast”.

Queenslanders have been told to construct safe rooms in their houses in which to shelter  until the full force of the storm hits.

The Bureau of Meteorology upgraded Yasi from a category four storm to a category five and said the cyclone was expected to hit around 10:00 pm (1300 CET) on Wednesday.

"This impact is likely to be more life-threatening than any experienced during recent generations," the bureau said.

Yasi, packing a 650-kilometre front and an eye measuring about 35 kilometres across, was on course to slam directly into the area between the tourist hub of Cairns and Cardwell to the south.

Prime Minister Julia Gillard said Yasi looked like the worst cyclone in Australian history and said the nation was with Queenslanders as they faced "many, many dreadful, frightening hours" waiting for it to strike.

Yasi was expected to generate highly destructive winds of more than 280
kilometres per hour, 700 millimetres of rain and a storm surge that is threatening to flood towns and tourist resorts.

The cyclone is so enormous that it would almost cover the United States, most of
Asia and large parts of Europe, News Ltd newspapers reported.