Category 4 Cyclone Ilsa lashes northwest Australian coast

By ROD McGUIRK
Associated Press

CANBERRA, Australia (AP) — A severe tropical cyclone is lashing the northwest Australian coast with strengthening winds and increasing rain.  Australia’s Bureau of Meteorology said Cyclone Ilsa reached Category 4 intensity Thursday over the Indian Ocean. Ilsa is expected to be the first storm on that scale to cross the Pilbara coast of Western Australia state in a decade. Category 4 cyclones have maximum mean wind speeds of 99-124 miles per hour with wind gusts of 140-173 mph. They are the second-most severe storm on the Australian scale of five. The bureau says Ilsa is expected to cross the coast by early Friday.