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Queensland Australia Hit By Category 5 Cyclone (Credit: EPA/DAVE HUNT AUSTRALIA AND NEW ZEALAND OUT)

Tropical Cyclone Yasi made landfall in the northern state of Queensland, Australia, late Wednesday night.

The Category 5 storm, the highest designation on Australia’s classification system, is expected to be one of the worst the country has ever seen. It has caused the evacuation of thousands of people from their homes ahead of the storm.

Queensland Deputy Police Commissioner, Ian Stewart, said, “This is a life-threatening storm, and people need to understand that they have a final window of opportunity to self-evacuate.” He also warned that the state faces “one of the most significant weather events” in its history.

Yasi has been forecast to have winds of 230 kph (143 mph) and maximum wind gusts of 300 kph (186 mph). It is expected to maintain that intensity for several hours.

In a nationally televised news conference Prime Minister Julia Gillard said, “This is a cyclone of savagery and intensity, people are facing some really dreadful hours in front of them.”

Australia’s Bureau of Meteorology said in a statement, “The large, destructive core of Cyclone Yasi is starting to cross the coast between Innisfail and Cardwell with a dangerous storm tide and battering waves to the south of the cyclone centre.”

The Bureau said, Storm surges of at least 6.5 feet were likely and would almost certainly flood some coastal communities. Up to 28 inches of rain could fall within hours in some areas. At highest risk was an area about 150 miles long between Cairns and the sugar cane-growing town of Ingham, the bureau said.

Queensland’s Premier, Anna Bligh, at a press conference said, “I can’t sugar coat this for people: It’s going to be a tough 24 hours, for some it’s going to be a tough couple of days.” She also said, “They need to prepare for the worst case scenario, and that might mean they have to be self-sufficient for a couple of days. We will do everything in our power to minimize the time people are without assistance, but that may not be in our control.”

Mayor Bill Shannon said he saw the roof torn off a building in Innisfail, a town about 55 miles south of Cairns, near the local government building where some 500 people are sheltering. “We’re just hoping and praying we can all get through the night,” Shannon said.

Bligh urged residents in the threatened areas to stay inside once the storm hits, and to respect the severity of the storm. She said, “It will be a display of the awesome power of nature, but it is not something you want to go outside and watch.”