Severe Cyclone Makes Landfall Near Australia’s Iron Ore Hub

(Bloomberg) —

Severe Cyclone Zelia has made landfall near Australia’s iron ore export hub, bringing heavy rainfall and damaging wind gusts, with the system threatening big mines and crucial rail links as it tracks inland.

The powerful cyclone crossed the coast to the east of Port Hedland, the nation’s biggest iron ore export harbor, packing very destructive wind gusts of up to 290 kilometers (180 miles) per hour near its center, according to the Bureau of Meteorology. Winds that strong flatten structures and buckle power lines.

Port Hedland avoided the destructive core of the storm, the bureau said, which made landfall as a Category 5, the strongest on the Australian scale. The system will weaken as it moves inland, but will still have cyclone strength as it tracks through the major iron ore mining region of the Pilbara, which hosts global miners including Rio Tinto Group and BHP Group.

Intense rainfall threatens to flood massive open-cut mines an…