Cyclone Debbie has been upgraded to a severe category 3 system, as the latest satellite imagery shows the storm hammering down off Queensland‘s coast.
Latest satellite imagery shows Severe Tropical #CycloneDebbie intensifying as it moves towards the QLD coast https://t.co/DO9KX5WTyA pic.twitter.com/eyel3DU0nM
— BOM Australia (@BOM_au) March 27, 2017
The cyclone has also turned deadly. One tourist has been killed in a car accident in the Whitsundays, with Queensland Police confirming severe weather was a factor.
Police Commissioner Ian Stewart has warned people from venturing out in the storm.
“It is time to think very logically about your safety and the safety of your family,” he said. “But also, the safety of your neighbours, particularly if they are vulnerable people. I would ask people to really consider their actions.”
Cyclone Debbie is forecast to make landfall between Ayr and Cape Hillborough, north of Mackay, on Tuesday morning, and is expected to intensify to a category 4 strength system.
The “very destructive core” of Debbie – as it has literally been described on the Bureau of Meteorology – is forecast to bring wind gusts of potentially up to 240km per hour in the centre of the system.
Photo: BOM / Twitter.
