Cyclone shelters open in Darwin

Cyclone shelters in Darwin's rural area and in the city have opened their doors as the Disaster Committee declares stage three for tropical Cyclone Helen.
The category one cyclone is continuing to head towards the west coast of the Northern Territory and is predicted to be upgraded to category two by the time it reaches land early tomorrow morning.At 6pm AEDT, it was about 225 kilometres west-south-west of Darwin and moving east at 16 kilometres per hour. A cyclone warning is current from Port Keats to Cape Hotham, including Darwin and the Tiwi Islands.Gordon Jecklin from the Bureau of Meteorology says Cyclone Helen is bringing gale force winds with it.
"We're actually seeing the system still developing, so we expect by the time it hits the coast at about midnight, we'll be looking at wind gusts of 130 kilometres an hour and category two," he said.Those using the cyclone shelters are being asked to bring essential medicines, foods and minimal personal supplies. Northern Territory Police Commissioner Paul White says those wanting to seek shelter outside of Darwin should leave as soon as they can."The cyclone track is forecast across the Stuart Highway and the last thing we want is people leaving at the last moment and getting stuck because the road's closed," he said."So we want people to take a measured approach. We want them to remain calm but we want to give people every opportunity that if they feel they need to leave Darwin to do so."Acting Police Commander for the Darwin region, Mike Stevens, says it is possible gale force winds will be felt across the Darwin region from later on this evening. "We expect the winds to start impacting at around nine o'clock tonight [local time]," he said. "I would urge people to limit their movements after eight o'clock tonight." He says people going to public shelters should take food and warm clothing.
Darwin Airport says it expects all flights to go ahead as scheduled but a meeting is being held at 5:30pm ACST to consider the latest cyclone update.
The Territory's Infrastructure Department says bus services will run as usual until 8:30pm ACST, and the situation will be looked at again after th