Residents flee as cyclone approaches Australia

Miners, cattle ranchers, tourists and Indigenous locals were evacuating from Australia’s remote northwest coast on Wednesday as a tropical cyclone approached. Cyclone Ilsa is expected to peak as a Category 4 storm as it crosses the sparsely populated Pilbara coast of Western Australia state between the iron ore export town of Port Hedland in the west and the tourist town of Broome in the east late Thursday or early Friday, Australia’s Bureau of Meteorology said.

Bureau manager Todd Smith warned of the possibility of abnormally high tides, large waves and flooding, adding people should avoid coastal and low-lying areas.On Wednesday morning, Ilsa was a Category 2 cyclone moving south over the Indian Ocean from a position 350 km.