CAIRNS, Australia — Thousands of people including tourists were being evacuated on Monday as northern Australia braced for a powerful cyclone packing destructive winds with warnings of major structural damage and surging tides. Residents are being warned to prepare for the worst storm to pummel the state since cyclone Yasi in 2011, which ripped homes from their foundations and devastated crops. "This is going to be a nasty cyclone," Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk said, adding that structural damage and power outages were likely. "You may not think that this cyclone is going to be rough. But the winds that we are expecting in the Townsville region are going to be more severe than those that were experienced through cyclone Yasi," she said.

Source: Viet Nam News March 27, 2017 04:20 UTC