CANBERRA, March 22 (Xinhua) -- Authorities in Australia's Northern Territory (NT) have undertaken the largest evacuation of civilians in the territory in more than 40 years in preparation for a tropical cyclone.

Thousands of people were evacuated from small communities on the NT's coast by the Australian Defence Force (ADF) on Thursday and flown to Darwin, the NT's capital city as Tropical Cyclone Trevor bears down on the region, according to The Australian.

It is the largest evacuation of people in the NT since Cyclone Tracy hit in 1974 which killed 71 people and caused damage worth hundreds of millions of dollars.

"Evacuations have commenced and will continue through the next 24 hours using all assets that are available," NT Chief Minister Michael Gunner told reporters on Thursday night.

"It is really important that you stay informed ... and take this seriously, not just the cyclonic winds but the storm surge that comes with them.

According to the Bureau of Meteorology (BOM), Trevor is expected to strengthen to a "severe" category four or five system as it moves west from Cape York in Queensland across the Gulf of Carpentaria before it makes landfall in the NT on Saturday.

The NT was last hit by a category five storm in March 2018 when Tropical Cyclone Marcus hit Darwin, causing damage worth more than 85 million Australian dollars (60.4 million U.S. dollars).