Sydney, 29 Jumada II 1438 AH corresponding to 28 March 2017 SPA -- A slow-moving Cyclone Debbie continued to batter Australia's north-eastern coast in Queensland on Tuesday, with the with the category four storm expected to hit the mainland in the early afternoon. The cyclone - which at its worst could have sustained winds of 175 kilometres per hour and gusts of up to 270 kilometres per hour - is moving extremely slowly, around 6 kilometres per hour, the bureau of meteorology said. The Whitsunday and Hamilton islands, top tourist attractions, have already seen gusts of 230 kilometres per hour. With its slow progress, Cyclone Debbie could cause major havoc for a sustained period, officials said. The danger is unlikely to pass on Tuesday, Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk said as she asked all residents to "remain safe and inside their homes for the next 12 hours." Debbie's slow pace is having "a battering ram effect," as "winds keep pounding, pounding," Police Commissioner Ian Stewart said. "She's slowed down out there so she can just keep smashing us," Whitsunday Mayor Andrew Willcox said, according to AAP. "What would be ideal is for her to either, one, go away, but if not come straight across quite quickly," he said. "But, yeah, Debbie isn't playing the game here." The slow movement of the system would mean more rain and flooding as it crosses the coast, said Richard Wardle, the bureau of meteorology's weather services manager. The Queensland state government has declared 600 kilometres along the coast a danger zone. Tens of thousands have been evacuated from the region, and more than 23,000 homes are without electricity. Almost 400 schools and childcare centres are closed, and some 2,000 emergency workers have been deployed in the area. The army is on standby, and about 600 hospital beds are available. There have been no reports of injuries so far. Residents of the region, which is close to the southern end of the Great Barrier Reef, have reported roofs torn off and trees ripped out of the ground. People on holiday have said they were kept awake throughout a stressful night by ferocious winds. "It's just like freight trains coming through, left and right," Charlie, a worker stranded on Hamilton Island, told local ABC radio. Torrential rains have lashed the region since Monday afternoon, with some areas seeing 190 millimetres of rainfall within an hour. The bureau of meteorology says rainfall of up to 500 millimetres could fall in some areas. "Outside it is just pouring horizontally, the rain is falling sideways, the trees look like they're in a disco, and it hasn't even arrived yet," Willcox said. The destructive storm is expected to increase later in the day, when the cyclone reaches its climax as it hits the mainland area. "Debbie is one mean, big bitch, said Jan Clifford, a local councillor at Airlie Beach. A tree one metre in diameter in her backyard was uprooted, and another one landed on her roof, she said. A tidal surge, just hours before landfall, could inundate low-lying communities with up to four metres of water, especially in the Mackay region, where 25,000 people have been evacuated. The police commissioner warned of two possible storm surges coinciding with high tides, with authorities planning for possible major flooding along all of the north-eastern coastline. --SPA 08:18 LOCAL TIME 05:18 GMT www.spa.gov.sa/w363367