The impending cyclone Yasi bearing down on the coast of northeast Australia sounds like something straight out of a disaster movie. But it is all too real. The potentially deadly storm is being labeled the "most severe storm ever" to hit northern Queensland.
The storm has been upgraded to a maximum-strength category 5, and is expected to land at high tide, further increasing the possibility of mass destruction. Experts are calling the destructive storm "the most life-threatening storm in generations." Searches for "cyclone yasi" and "cyclone yasi path" have surged on Yahoo!.
The monster storm is expected to hit the populous East Coast late Wednesday or early Thursday.
The killer storm could generate winds up to 175 miles an hour and come down hard on a coast populated by towns and tourist resorts. Thousands of residents have fled the low-lying coastal area of Cairns -- a city of 164,000 that is a tourists' gateway to the Great Barrier Reef. The storm threatens to cause flooding as well. Forecasters warned the storm could take 24 hours to weaken after it hits land.
Queensland has been besieged by natural disaster of late. In November the area was deluged with massive floods.
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