DARWIN - Police have urged residents at Nhulunbuy in the Northern Territory to urgently seek shelter as the community awaits category five Cyclone Monica.
The cyclone, which brought widespread flooding to north Queensland last week, is moving towards Arnhem Land, including the Aboriginal community of Nhulunbuy and the nearby mining township of Gove, and is expected to make landfall within hours.
Wind gusts of up to 120kph have already been reported, while flood warnings have been issued for coastal areas.
The Bureau of Meteorology has warned residents to prepare for "very destructive" wind gusts of up to 320kph, when Monica's core hits far north regions of Arnhem Land later today.
A cyclone watch has been extended west to include Darwin, Jabiru and the Tiwi Islands, with the storm not expected to lose intensity as it moves west along the north coast.
The Nhulunbuy Counter Disaster Controller (NCDC) issued a statement at 8am (CST) advising conditions were already at "a dangerous level" and urged residents to move to their selected shelters immediately.
A public shelter, which can accommodate up to 800 people, has been established at the western end of the Gove Hospital.
Hundreds of people spent the night in the shelter, with more moving there early today.
Police advised people to take food and provisions with them and to prepare to remain in their selected shelters for up to 24 hours.
"The cyclone is slow moving and wide ranging so the effects of it are likely to be prolonged," police said in a statement.
"Police advise people to have plenty of supplies with them as you may not be able to move from your shelter for anything up to 24 hours."
Residents have also been advised not to drive or move about outside until the area is declared safe by the NCDC.
A police spokeswoman at Nhulunbuy said wind and rainy conditions had already started.
"The wind has picked up a little bit and certainly it is cloudy and we are getting sprinkles of rain, but nothing too drastic at the moment," she said.
"We are pretty prepared."
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