(Reuters) - Tropical cyclone Heidi hit the west Australian coast ahead of time Thursday packing finally ends up to 120 kilometres per hour, forcing seaside residents to leave rising tidewaters and closing the world's biggest iron ore export terminals.
"We're certainly feeling the brunt of Cyclone Heidi as she crosses the coast," Kelly Howlett, mayor from the capital of scotland - Port Hedland told local media.
"She's certainly packing somewhat punch at the moment," Howlett said.
Heidi made landfall around 4.30 am local time (2030 GMT), in line with the Australian Bureau of Meteorology.
The bureau said winds as high as 130 kilometres by the hour had been whipping down the coast overnight, warning gusts as high as 150 kilometres by the hour were possible.
As much as 250 millimetres (9.8 inches) of rain has also been possible across central and eastern aspects of the Pilbara iron belt, where the majority of Australia's iron ore mining occurs, it said.
An unsafe storm tide has also been predicted for coastal areas and residents nearby the coast were warned to look for emergency shelter further inland.
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Ports serving the enormous iron ore mines of northwest Australia began closing on Tuesday night because storm swept across the Indian Ocean toward a stretch of coast where nearly two-thirds in the world's seaborne-traded iron ore is distributed.
Port Hedland, the region's largest iron ore port, exporting around 240 million tonnes with the steel-making commodity per year, has become closed to traffic before the storm passes.
Australia's second and third biggest iron ore miners, BHP Billiton (BHP.AX) and Fortescue Metals Group (FMG.AX), both export through Port Hedland.
Australia's biggest iron ore miner as well as the world's second-largest, Rio Tinto (RIO.AX), also halted all loading at Dampier and Cape Lambert ports, 250 kms south of Port Hedland.
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Rio Tinto ships around 225 millions tonnes annually readily available two ports.
Fortescue exports about 55 million tonnes annually and BHP Billiton ships around 155 million tonnes from the Pilbara, which employs around 40,000 inside the mining industry.
For latest graphic from meteorology agency:
here
Australia's largest oil and gas firm, Woodside Petroleum (WPL.AX), also took precautions contrary to the storm by shutting production from the 3 offshore fields.
Heidi is rated a category two cyclone, the next lowest ranking on a scale of one to 5 and meteorologists expect Heidi to start to weaken within the next couple of hours weight loss from the storm crosses land. [the iron ore processing plant]
Tropical cyclones and temporary shutdowns really are a normal part of Australian summers, but a very stormy season may have major impacts, including when cyclones and flooding swamped the coal-mining industry in the country's northeast last year.
The bureau warned in October the northwestern region was facing a 65 % potential for being hit by more than seven cyclones through the November to April tropical storm season.
"We're certainly feeling the brunt of Cyclone Heidi as she crosses the coast," Kelly Howlett, mayor from the capital of scotland - Port Hedland told local media.
"She's certainly packing somewhat punch at the moment," Howlett said.
Heidi made landfall around 4.30 am local time (2030 GMT), in line with the Australian Bureau of Meteorology.
The bureau said winds as high as 130 kilometres by the hour had been whipping down the coast overnight, warning gusts as high as 150 kilometres by the hour were possible.
As much as 250 millimetres (9.8 inches) of rain has also been possible across central and eastern aspects of the Pilbara iron belt, where the majority of Australia's iron ore mining occurs, it said.
An unsafe storm tide has also been predicted for coastal areas and residents nearby the coast were warned to look for emergency shelter further inland.
[Magnetite processing beneficiation http://iron-ore.shibang-china.com/specific-iron-ore/magnetite.html]
Ports serving the enormous iron ore mines of northwest Australia began closing on Tuesday night because storm swept across the Indian Ocean toward a stretch of coast where nearly two-thirds in the world's seaborne-traded iron ore is distributed.
Port Hedland, the region's largest iron ore port, exporting around 240 million tonnes with the steel-making commodity per year, has become closed to traffic before the storm passes.
Australia's second and third biggest iron ore miners, BHP Billiton (BHP.AX) and Fortescue Metals Group (FMG.AX), both export through Port Hedland.
Australia's biggest iron ore miner as well as the world's second-largest, Rio Tinto (RIO.AX), also halted all loading at Dampier and Cape Lambert ports, 250 kms south of Port Hedland.
[Hematite Mining Beneficiation http://iron-ore.shibang-china.com/specific-iron-ore/hematite.html]
Rio Tinto ships around 225 millions tonnes annually readily available two ports.
Fortescue exports about 55 million tonnes annually and BHP Billiton ships around 155 million tonnes from the Pilbara, which employs around 40,000 inside the mining industry.
For latest graphic from meteorology agency:
here
Australia's largest oil and gas firm, Woodside Petroleum (WPL.AX), also took precautions contrary to the storm by shutting production from the 3 offshore fields.
Heidi is rated a category two cyclone, the next lowest ranking on a scale of one to 5 and meteorologists expect Heidi to start to weaken within the next couple of hours weight loss from the storm crosses land. [the iron ore processing plant]
Tropical cyclones and temporary shutdowns really are a normal part of Australian summers, but a very stormy season may have major impacts, including when cyclones and flooding swamped the coal-mining industry in the country's northeast last year.
The bureau warned in October the northwestern region was facing a 65 % potential for being hit by more than seven cyclones through the November to April tropical storm season.
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