Cyclone Lua shuts key mining port on Western Australia coast

A major iron-ore port in Western Australia was being evacuated Saturday as as a hurricane — known locally as a cyclone — bore down on the area.

Tropical Cyclone Lua crossed the coast as a category 4 system, battering the Pilbara mining region in the state's north with winds of around 155 miles an hour, Bloomberg reported.

Category 4 is the second strongest storm on the cyclone scale, which runs from one to five, and a red alert — the highest warning — had been issued for the region.

The port of Dampier, used by Rio Tinto Group (RIO), the world’s second-biggest shipper of iron ore, shut down, as did Port Hedland, the world’s biggest iron ore port used by BHP Billiton and Fortescue Metals Group, Bloomberg wrote.

TVNZ reported that Port Hedland had been evacuated. Shipping traffic had being redirected to safer waters, News.com.au added.

According to News, flights into the region had also been canceled, the main coastal highway closed and the authorities were threatening to fine anyone using their vehicles.

Heavy rainfall was also expected near the west Kimberley coast and in coastal and inland parts of the east Pilbara region, another top mining area.

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