AUSSIES IGNORE

Coastal towns in Queensland lashed by powerful storm

SYDNEY shredded crops and devastated island resorts.

About 3,500 people left low-lying townships near Townsville, while authorities advised 2,000 more people in the town of Bowen to also leave, Palaszczuk said, adding that the “window of opportunity to leave was drastically closing” as weather worsened.

“This is going to be a nasty cyclone. These wind gusts are going to be huge,” Palaszczuk told Nine Network television.

A category five storm is the strongest on the five-step SaffirSimpson scale of hurricane intensity.

The Abbot Point coal terminal and ports at Mackay and Hay Point were closed until further notice, ports spokesman Fiona Cunningham said.

BHP Billiton suspended operations at its South Walker Creek coal mine, which is just to the south of the cyclone’s expected path. Glencore said it was halting operations at the Collinsville and