At 4:00 am EST Severe Tropical Cyclone Yasi, Category 5 was estimated to be 650 kilometres east northeast of Cairns and 650 kilometres northeast of Townsville moving west southwest at 30 kilometres per hour.
SEVERE TC YASI IS A LARGE AND VERY POWERFUL TROPICAL CYCLONE AND POSES AN EXTREMELY SERIOUS THREAT TO LIFE AND PROPERTY WITHIN THE WARNING AREA, ESPECIALLY BETWEEN PORT DOUGLAS AND TOWNSVILLE.
THIS IMPACT IS LIKELY TO BE MORE LIFE THREATENING THAN ANY EXPERIENCED DURING RECENT GENERATIONS.
The Cyclone has now reached CATEGORY 5 and will continue to move in a west-southwesterly direction during today.
Coastal residents within the warning, and particularly between Port Douglas and Townsville are specifically warned of an EXTREMELY DANGEROUS sea level rise [i.e. storm tide] as the cyclone approaches and crosses the coast. The sea is likely to steadily rise up to a level which will be VERY DANGEROUSLY above the normal tide, with EXTREMELY DAMAGING WAVES, strong currents and flooding of low-lying areas extending some way inland. People living in areas likely to be affected by this flooding should take measures to protect their property as much as possible, and be prepared to follow instructions regarding evacuation of the area if advised to do so by authorities.
DAMAGING WINDS with gusts to 90 km/hr are expected to develop on coastal islands later this morning, then extend onto the coast during the day, and further inland across the northern tropical interior overnight.
Between Cooktown and Ingham these winds will become DESTRUCTIVE with gusts in excess of 125km/hr during the afternoon and VERY DESTRUCTIVE with gusts above 280 km/hr between Port Douglas and Cardwell during the evening as the cyclone approaches. These VERY DESTRUCTIVE winds can also occur on the seaward side of hills to the north of the cyclone and are also forecast to reach the Atherton Tablelands.
FLOODING RAINS will develop from Cooktown to Sarina during the afternoon and then extend inland overnight.
