Australian authorities warn against complacency as Cyclone Zelia upgrades to category 5

The Star

Australia's northwest braced on Friday (February 14) for Cyclone Zelia - a powerful tropical cyclone, forcing the closure of all of the major commodity ports in the country's Pilbara region.  WATCH MORE: https://thestartv.com/c/news SUBSCRIBE: https://cutt.ly/TheStar LIKE: https://fb.com/TheStarOnline

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00:00Australia's northwest is on high alert as Cyclone Zelia, a Category 5 storm, is expected

00:09to make landfall on Friday near Port Hedland.

00:12We're ready to deal with the aftermath of the cyclone which will pack 290 km an hour

00:17winds and more than 500 mm of rain through the Pilbara.

00:22It is critical that impacted communities don't get complacent because the hazards won't ease

00:28once the cyclone has passed.

00:31Conditions after a cyclone can be just as dangerous as the cyclone itself, including

00:36damaged buildings, fallen power lines and debris.

00:39Port Hedland is not expected to be impacted by the very destructive eyewall winds, but

00:46damaging to destructive wind gusts are still likely this afternoon and into this evening.

00:53On the eastern side of the tropical cyclone track, a dangerous storm surge is possible

00:59which could cause flash flooding of coastal areas.

01:02However, the storm surge risk in line with the movement of the cyclone is greatly reduced

01:09for the Port Hedland area.

01:11Authorities have shut down all major commodity ports in the Pilbara region.

01:16Port Hedland's port, the world's biggest iron ore export point, was closed on Wednesday.

01:22Residents in Port Hedland, home to about 15,000 people, mostly mining workers, have

01:28been advised to stay indoors while non-essential staff have been relocated.

01:33Emergency teams are on standby as the cyclone approaches.

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