A dangerous cyclone heading for the northern Australian city of Darwin was downgraded early Tuesday to a category two storm as it weakened after making landfall, the weather bureau said. Tropical Cyclone Monica was ranked as the most powerful category five before hitting the sparsely-populated coast of Arnhem Land in the Northern Territories late on Monday night.
Darwin, with a population of some 100,000, was now expected to escape a direct hit, local police commander Bert Hofer told national radio.
“The system seems to be tracking further south and inland than was predicted late yesterday,” he said.
At 4:00 am Tuesday (1800 GMT Monday) Monica was about 200 kilometres (125 miles) east of Darwin, moving west-southwest at 20 kilometres an hour, the weather bureau said.
Destructive winds with gusts of up to 125 kilometres an hour were hitting the area near Jabiru and would progress towards Darwin during the morning before the cyclone weakened further, the bureau said.
Strong winds and heavy rain were expected to cause significant flooding.
There were no immediate reports of casualties or damage inflicted on the isolated Aboriginal communities living in the area.
Source: Agence France-Presse
