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Brisbane: Authorities are engaged in a massive exercise to evacuate people in north Queensland as Cyclone Debbie heads towards the coast, with winds lashing at 230 kilometres per hour.

Meteorological reports say the cyclone will become a category four cyclone and hit the coast south of Ayr at 7:00am (Australian time) tomorrow (Tuesday).

The Bureau of Meteorology (BOM) has warned it will be the worst since Cyclone Yasi of 2011, and would be “bigger than Marcia” — the category five cyclone that had hit Queensland in 2015.