A terrifying top-strength cyclone slammed into Australia's populous northeast coast on Thursday, with officials warning it could be one of the most lethal storms in the nation's history. Howling winds whipped up by Severe Tropical Cyclone Yasi with speeds of up to 290 kilometres per hour ripped off roofs, felled trees and cut power supplies as the storm crossed the Queensland coast. Yasi, the worst storm to hit the area in a century, made landfall around midnight, after the cyclone was upgraded early in the day to a category five storm from category four.
The storm made landfall near Mission Beach, which lies in the heart of a tourism and agriculture-rich area 180 kilometers south of Cairns, gateway to the Great Barrier Reef.