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Its a serious threat to life. I strongly hope that Folks in the way are in shelters. Cyclone Tracy was a category 3 and it twisted I-beams like they were the twisted ball DNA of a Bacteria.
They are just getting the edge of what can be described as a category 3 wind - and roofs are being torn off. The Cat 5 core will devour buildings deemed safe against cat 3. It is also too far north to disapate inland. I can look forward to it jumping the cape into the gulf and heading for Darwin. This year is going to be nasty. January Wrath of God Flood, February Wrath of God Cyclone, March?
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It is a full-on storm, as powerful as (or more so than) Hurricane Katrina. Hopefully the people of Cairns and Townsville (and Darwin if it gets that far Dingo) fare better than Nre Orleans did a few years ago.
The good news is that building codes (in Queensland, and I assume in the Territory) have come a long way since the days of Tracey, so newish buildings should fare a lot better than they did back then. The bad news is that the BCA for north Queensland stipulates that buildings must be able to withstand winds of up to 250 km/hr ... and Yasi will hit the coast with winds of up to 295 km/hr ...
Good luck to all those of the land down under and for those of not in Australia, a look at the scale of this storm if it had hit North America, Asia or Europe.