Cyclone Ingridbattered island communities off Australia's tropical city of Darwin today.
Winds of up to 215 kilometres per hour cut most communications with the Tiwi islands but Ingridspared Darwin, which was destroyed by a cyclone in 1974.
The cyclone uprooted trees and ripped off roofs as it moved across the country's northern coast, but there were no reports of injuries.
Cyclone Ingrid, a mid-scale category three cyclone, was west of Bathurst Island late on Monday and moving into the Timor Sea. Bathurst and Melville islands make up the Tiwi islands, named for the Tiwi people, which have a population of about 2,500.
Many islanders were still taking shelter from the strong winds after the storm passed early today. Rescuers were trying to reach 10 people stranded by floods on remote Elcho Island, which was hit two days ago.
Dozens of workers on remote pearl farms along Australia's northwest coast, known as cyclone alley, have been evacuated in case Ingrid heads that way. A number of Australia's major offshore oil and gas operations are located off the northwest coast.
Darwin remained on a cyclone warning, despite weather forecasts that the storm had passed the city. In 1974, category four Cyclone Tracywas tracking away from Darwin when it abruptly turned back and hit the city on Christmas Day, killing 65 people.