Sydney - The largest hub for the export of iron ore in the world, located in northwest Australia, was bracing for the region's strongest tropical storm in ten years on Thursday as a major port was shut down and locals scrambled to stock up on necessities.

On Thursday morning, Cyclone Ilsa, which is roughly 250 kilometers (155 miles) off the coast of Australia in the Indian Ocean, was upgraded to a category four storm.

The Bureau of Meteorology predicted that storm would intensify to category five before making landfall late Thursday or early Friday with gusts of up to 285 km/h (177 mph).

According to meteorologist Miriam Bradbury of ABC television, "They have a lot of strength in them, the ability to not only destroy trees and knock down power lines but to lift up those loose items in the yard, including trailers and caravans."

In its most recent update, the weather agency warned that Ilsa could affect a 600 km area of sparsely populated land from about north of Port Hedland eastward to just south of the tourist destination Broome.

The port in Port Hedland, which is the largest iron ore export facility in the world, shut down on Thursday morning after the port authority started berth clearing the previous day.

BHP Group, Fortescue, and billionaire Gina Rinehart's Hancock Prospecting also use the port. In the direction of Port Hedland's west, at the Port of Dampier, Rio Tinto exports goods.

The weather service warned that while Port Hedland would escape "the very destructive core of Ilsa," the mining community could still be pounded by winds with gusts of up to 155 km/h.

According to Jessica Lingard of the weather bureau, it will be the strongest system to reach the country's far northwest region since Cyclone Christine made landfall there in December 2013.

Despite maintaining its mining and rail activities, BHP said it was closely monitoring the cyclone.

A representative for Fortescue stated that although it has stopped shipping operations and non-essential travel to the port, it did not currently anticipate any significant effects on business operations.

The majority of the mines in the area are hundreds of kilometers inland.

For a number of distant towns, a yellow notice was issued, instructing citizens to prepare to seek shelter from a cyclone. The majority of Port Hedland's 15,000 people, who work for mining firms, were covered by the alert.

Local media stated that several grocery shelves had been completely cleared out due to the high demand for necessities including bottled water, fruit, and meat.