2000 Discovery Communications Inc.
Tropical cyclone
Sam rapidly intensified off the coast of northwestern Australia
on Friday and was reclassified as a Category-Five storm.
The storm
was upgraded to the most dangerous category as it stalled off
the coast, 220 miles from the Eighty Mile Beach resort of Broome.
Sam was packing winds of 144 mph.
Australia's
Bureau of Meteorology duty forecaster Noel Puzey reported, "It's
not going anywhere right now but it also means the cyclone can
sit there and build up in intensity, which is what it's done overnight."
Puzey said that the storm was capable of causing major damage
as it made landfall later Friday.
Richard Rattley
of the Bureau of Meteorology predicted that the cyclone would
make landfall near the Aboriginal community of Bidyadanga near
Broome.
Warnings were
issued for areas from Broome to the city of Wallal.
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