QUEENSLAND, Australia (Reuters) –Residents of the town of Airlie Beach in north Queensland, Australia, began filling sand bags on Monday (March 27) in preparation for Cyclone Debbie, forecast to make landfall early the next day.
The Australian Bureau of Meteorology said the storm will strengthen to a Category Four, with winds forecast to reach up to 300 km per hour (185 mph).
State Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk warned it would be the most powerful storm to hit the country since Cyclone Yasi in 2011, which destroyed homes, shredded crops and devastated island resorts.
About 3,500 people left low-lying townships near Townsville, while authorities advised 2,000 more people in the town of Bowen to also leave, Palaszczuk said.
A category five storm is the strongest on the five-step Saffir-Simpson scale of hurricane intensity
