Ita batters Australia\\\'s Great Barrier Reef coast

Ita, a tropical cyclone, battered Australia's Barrier Reef coast Saturday, knocking out power and phone lines for thousands of people and threatening floods, despite weakening as it headed south towards major tourist resorts. Tens of thousands of people hunkered down overnight as strong gales and heavy rains lashed the far north, but no casualties or major destruction was reported as the cyclone was downgraded to a category one storm. Ita crossed the coast near Cape Flattery late Friday as a category four storm packing winds up to 230 kilometres per hour, tearing off roofs and uprooting trees. Queensland state Premier Campbell Newman said several thousand people across the far north had lost electricity and warned that cyclone Ita "continues to be a threat," according to AFP.