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1 February 2011
Last updated at 02:23 ET
Patients are being evacuated from hospitals in the north Queensland city of Cairns as Cyclone Yasi roars closer to the Australian coastline.
Troops are flying patients to Brisbane, while residents in coastal areas are being urged to find safer locations.
Yasi is expected to hit the state as a category four storm early on Thursday, bringing a storm surge and heavy rain.
Queensland Premier Anna Bligh has described the cyclone as "huge and life-threatening".
"This is potentially a deadly storm and we need to take it absolutely seriously," she said.
"If you are in a low-lying or waterfront area in the danger zone and beyond, you need to relocate yourself and your family to safety."
The storm has changed course in the last 24 hours and now appears set to spare central and southern parts of the state devastated by recent flooding.
It now looks likely to hit the Cairns area, but forecasters say its effects may be felt hundreds of kilometres away.
Airlines have put on extra flights to northern Queensland to help evacuate residents and tourists, while holiday-makers have been leaving resort islands.
About 250 patients from two hospitals in Cairns are being flown by the air force to Brisbane, because of expected flooding by the storm surge.
Queensland Deputy Police Commissioner Ian Stewart urged residents in affected areas to evacuate their homes on Tuesday and head south to safer regions.
"At about 0800 tomorrow, on current predictions, it will become dangerous to be driving about or walking about or doing anything outside due to the force of the winds," he said.
Officials say mandatory evacuations are likely to be enforced in Cairns.
Yasi is expected to be more powerful than Cyclone Larry, which slammed into Queensland in March 2006, leaving thousands of people homeless.
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Troops are flying patients to Brisbane, while residents in coastal areas are being urged to find safer locations.
Yasi is expected to hit the state as a category four storm early on Thursday, bringing a storm surge and heavy rain.
Queensland Premier Anna Bligh has described the cyclone as "huge and life-threatening".
"This is potentially a deadly storm and we need to take it absolutely seriously," she said.
"If you are in a low-lying or waterfront area in the danger zone and beyond, you need to relocate yourself and your family to safety."
The storm has changed course in the last 24 hours and now appears set to spare central and southern parts of the state devastated by recent flooding.
It now looks likely to hit the Cairns area, but forecasters say its effects may be felt hundreds of kilometres away.
Airlines have put on extra flights to northern Queensland to help evacuate residents and tourists, while holiday-makers have been leaving resort islands.
About 250 patients from two hospitals in Cairns are being flown by the air force to Brisbane, because of expected flooding by the storm surge.
Queensland Deputy Police Commissioner Ian Stewart urged residents in affected areas to evacuate their homes on Tuesday and head south to safer regions.
"At about 0800 tomorrow, on current predictions, it will become dangerous to be driving about or walking about or doing anything outside due to the force of the winds," he said.
Officials say mandatory evacuations are likely to be enforced in Cairns.
Yasi is expected to be more powerful than Cyclone Larry, which slammed into Queensland in March 2006, leaving thousands of people homeless.
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