Tropical Cyclone Zelia made landfall on Australia's west coast on Friday, the country's weather bureau said, lashing the world's largest iron ore hub with heavy rain and wind gusts up to 290 kph.
The eye of the Category 5 storm, the highest rating on the scale, crossed the coast east of Port Hedland just after 12 p.m., sparing the town's population center from the cyclone's most destructive winds.
"This is a very dangerous system that will cause significant impact and is causing impacts as we speak," Matthew Collopy, a forecaster with Australia's Bureau of Meteorology said.
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