A powerful cyclone lashed Australia’s sparsely populated north coast on Sunday, damaging buildings and uprooting trees with its winds, but causing no injuries, an official said.
After 180 mph winds wreaked havoc on the Aboriginal community of Croker Island, maximum category five Cyclone Ingrid stormed west toward the port city of Darwin, with a population of 100,000, weather forecasters said.
“Early reports from Croker Island are that there are no injuries, but there appears to be a large amount of damage around the town,” Northern Territory government spokesman Andrew Cummins said.
Most of Darwin was destroyed and 65 people died when a category four cyclone struck on Christmas Eve in 1974.
The government advised people living within 30 miles of Darwin to prepare their home cyclone shelters or evacuate to public shelters. Houses built in Darwin since Cyclone Tracy struck in 1974 are designed to withstand most cyclones.
