Category 5 Cyclone Hits Coast of Australia

[Empty_Purple_Stars]

I just saw this on the news, and am a bit worried about our Gnet Members in Queensland and the surrounding Coastal Areas.

A Category 5 Cyclone is as bad as it gets!!

They are comparing this Cyclone to the strength and devastation of Katrina here in the states last year.

The Cyclone(Larry) is currently at winds of over 209 Kilometers per hour. That's a hell of a punch. Not to mention since Queensland is on the coast, the potential flooding could be horiffic.

*worried face*

Maybe our Australian members could also check in here, as they log in and give us updates?

We'll be thinking about all of you, and hoping for the best..

I will post details from CNN'S webpage, below..

*Squeezy Hugs*

CNN Coverage of Cyclone

[Empty_Purple_Stars]

Mortalitus for starters.

I will have to check my lists for the rest..

Looks like its going to be very ugly over there..

[Empty_Purple_Stars]

Maybe she can give us some more insight on the situation..

[rockandrose]

I just heard about this briefly, as I failed to read the newspapers yesterday.

Luckily, I live towards the south which is probably unlikely to be affected by this cyclone, but it's still a big worry for the Queenslanders, considering it is near the coast and beaches.

"Last cyclone, the water came down our drive and into our backyard," she said. "You can't be too careful."

http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au...55E601,00.html

[Empty_Purple_Stars]

Pretty scary stuff..

My Family is still recovering from the one that hit Louisiana and Texas here last year. We still have one family member unaccounted for as of yet.

Please be careful and try and keep us posted..

*Huge Hugs*

[rockandrose]

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Hundreds of people have been evacuated from coastal areas, and airports and ports have been closed and a number of areas have been hit by power blackouts.

"This cyclone is a category five now and compared to Tracy, which was also a category five ... the heart of Tracy was 47 kilometres, this is 100 kilometres and the front itself is 300 to 400," Mr Beattie told the Nine Network.

"So we are very concerned about it, it's the worst cyclone we've had in decades.

"We're very concerned about what sort of damage will do, some of the buildings won't withstand a category five cyclone, a lot of the houses won't, we expect it will be quite extensive damage."

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http://news.ninemsn.com.au/article.aspx?id=92072


Thanks EPS. I'm sure I'm living pretty safe and sound at the moment. Queensland is the state that's in danger at the moment, and hopefully this will end soon, injuring no one.

[Ben Lahnger]

Here's the latest satellite animation from AccuWeather:



Looks pretty damned serious. Having had both Katrina and Rita dance too close to my home last year (damn, hurricane season is almost here again!) makes this hard to look at. I hope each of you, and your loved ones, are in a safe place with the hatches battened down.

Keep us posted and let us know you are safe.

[Empty_Purple_Stars]

Here's another update;

Massive cyclone hits Australia
Sunday, March 19, 2006; Posted: 6:30 p.m. EST (23:30 GMT)

SYDNEY, Australia (AP) -- A powerful tropical cyclone packing winds of up to 290 kilometers per hour (180 mph) has slammed into Australia's northeastern coast Monday after more than 1,000 tourists and local residents were evacuated to higher ground, the weather bureau said.

Tropical cyclone Larry smashed into the coastal community of Innisfail, about 100 kilometers (62 miles) south of Cairns, a popular jumping-off point for the Great Barrier Reef, forecaster Jonty Hall said.

Police say three people have been reported injured so far in the cyclone.

The weather bureau on Monday upgraded the storm to a category five -- the strongest category possible -- and thousands of local residents were evacuated ahead of the cyclone's arrival.

The storm has been subsequently downgraded to a category four as it loses strength after making landfall.

An unidentified police spokeswoman told the Australian Associated Press the storm had ripped roofs off buildings throughout Innisfail and sent several trees crashing across roads.

Police had been unable to leave the station, despite hundreds of calls for help, she said.

"Homes are literally crumbling around them," the spokeswoman told AAP.

A motel proprietor told Australia's Sky News TV that residents of Innisfail ventured out as the calm of the eye of the storm passed over the town.

She said the town looked as if a bomb had hit it with trees uprooted and tin and roofing iron scattered everywhere.

Townsfolk then retreated back indoors as the winds and rains returned.

Innisfail Hospital director of nursing Leslie Harris said wards had been cleared Sunday to make way for possible cyclone victims.

"We haven't had anyone brought in yet but we have taken measures to free up beds," she said.

A spokeswoman for the Queensland Department of Emergency services said disaster and rescue crews were waiting for the winds to ease before going out to assess the damage.

"It's just a waiting game. At this point we don't know what the extent of the damage will be," said the spokeswoman, who did not give her name citing agency policy. "We're very well prepared."

Around 109 people were evacuated from the low-lying areas of Innisfail on Sunday, she said, as weather forecasters predicted the storm could cause sea levels to rise up to four meters (13 feet) above the normal tides.

"The storm surge is expected to be three to four meters above the tide height," the spokeswoman said. "What actually happens (in a cyclone) is that the majority of fatalities are as a result of floods."

Weather bureau forecaster Hall said conditions were "terrible" in the region, and warned of surging coastal tides and gale force winds along a 300-kilometer (186-mile) stretch of coast in northeastern Queensland.

"There's extremely dangerous conditions," he said. "It doesn't get much worse than this."

The weather bureau said destructive winds were occurring along the exposed coast from Port Douglas, about 50 kilometers (31 miles) north of Cairns, to Ingham, about 250 kilometers (155 miles) south.

Late Sunday, Queensland state Counter Disaster and Rescue Services executive director Frank Pagano compared the potential force of Larry to Katrina, which ravaged the United States' Gulf states in August last year, killing more than 1,300 people.

"This is the most devastating cyclone that we could potentially see on the east coast of Queensland for decades ... there is going to be destruction," Pagano told reporters in the state capital of Brisbane.

Brisbane Tropical Cyclone Warning Center Web site advised: "People in the path of this very dangerous cyclone should stay calm and remain in a secure shelter -- above the expected water level -- while the very destructive winds continue."

"The sea is likely to steadily rise up to a level which will be significantly above the normal tide, with damaging waves, strong currents and flooding of low-lying areas extending some way inland."

Queensland state Premier Peter Beattie declared a disaster situation, giving local governments the power to enforce mandatory evacuations.

Beattie said it was the worst storm to hit northeastern Australia in recent memory.

"We are very concerned about it, it's the worst cyclone we've had in decades," Beattie told the Nine television network Monday.

SOURCE

[tekajo]

If my memory serves correct, Mortalitas is on the south western coast so she is relatively safe.

i hope the Aussies come out alright.

Ben reminded me, Hurricane Season 2k6 is damn near upon us. Fuck.

[Empty_Purple_Stars]

Been trying not to think about it..

They are STILL finding bodies in houses in NOLA.

Can you believe that? Fucking STILL!!

Not to mention the Levees are still in a fragile state of disrepair..

I could go on and on with the problems that still exist..

Sigh..

I just hope this Hurricane Season gives us a break..

[tekajo]

Yeah and Senator Landrieu took a trip to The Netherlands to see how the Dutch does dykes (levees) like that's going to really help anything.

If only they'd do the shit right in the first place instead of building equine farms with the money.

Sorry.

[Sanctus Dei]

Speaking of missing people... anyone know where Mr. E is? He's been absent as of late...

I hope the aussies fare this well... I can't handle the pictures from Louisiana, so much uncontrollable destruction is an unfair turn of events.

[Empty_Purple_Stars]

Thousands homeless after cyclone
Forecasters warn of new storm bearing toward Australia
Tuesday, March 21, 2006; Posted: 10:25 a.m. EST (15:25 GMT)

INNISFAIL, Australia (AP) -- Troops began moving aid to the cyclone-shattered town of Innisfail on Tuesday as residents picked through waterlogged streets littered with rubble and mangled roofs destroyed by Australia's most powerful cyclone in decades.

Forecasters warned on Tuesday that more wild weather was heading for Australia, with a Category 2 cyclone brewing in the Coral Sea even as Australians were taking stock of devastation wreaked by what officials said was the most powerful cyclone to hit the country in three decades.

Cyclone Wati was churning slowly toward northeast Australia and was expected to hit later in the week, several hundred kilometers (miles) south of the region hammered by Cyclone Larry, a Category 5 storm with winds up to 290 kilometers per hour (180 mph), said Tropical Cyclone Warning Center senior forecaster Jeff Calllaghan.

There still was no official estimate for the number of people left homeless, but the region's mayor said he expected it to be in the thousands. After touring the area and talking to local officials, federal lawmaker Bob Katter told The Associated Press that up to 7,000 people were made homeless by the storm.

"There most certainly would be around 7,000 people ... that are effectively homeless," he said. "They're sitting in four walls but no roof."

Katter was speaking after attending a huge barbecue in Innisfail held to feed the local community with meat from butchers that otherwise would soon start rotting due to the lack of electricity to power refrigerators. Hundreds of townsfolk attended the barbecue.

Trucks carrying soldiers rumbled through the streets of Innisfail, the town of 8,500 that bore the brunt of category-5 Cyclone Larry when it slammed into the coast of northeast Australia just before dawn Monday.

"One of the most immediate needs is to get shelter over roofless homes, and there are many," said Charlie McKillop, a spokesman for Attorney General Philip Ruddock, whose department was helping coordinate aid.

U.S. President George W. Bush called Australian Prime Minister John Howard early Tuesday to offer American help if needed.

"Of course we are able ourselves to look after this," Howard said. "But it was a very generous, thoughtful gesture on his part and I thank him for it."

Reporters who flew into Innisfail on Tuesday saw scenes of devastation -- rain forest shredded by the winds, acres of sugar and banana plantations flattened, the trees and cane on the ground next to their stumps, pointing in the direction that the cyclone tore past.

"It looks like it's just been napalmed," said helicopter pilot Ian Harris. "That's normally pristine rain forest."

An apartment block with its roof torn off looked from the air like a doll's house.

But despite the widespread destruction, nobody was killed by Larry and only about 30 people suffered minor injuries, local officials said.

Rosarie Cullinane, a 24-year-old backpacker from Cork in Ireland, had been working at a local hostel for six weeks before the cyclone struck, organizing work at local plantations for fellow travelers.

"I never expected anything like this," she said Tuesday. "I did hear about cyclones but I didn't think it was going to be that bad."

She said backpackers huddled in their hostel wrapped in mattresses as the storm raged outside.

None of the travelers were injured, but they were leaving town Tuesday -- their prospects for work evaporated when Larry flattened the town's banana plantations.

Innisfail's main street was littered with rubble from badly damaged buildings and the corrugated metal used for roofing in the region. In some parts of the street people waded through knee-deep water.

About 120 troops were helping deliver aid, while clean up and specialist urban search and rescue crews were heading to the town. The military also was transporting a mobile kitchen and water purification plant to Innisfail.

Among other supplies flowing into the town were nearly 40,000 liters (10,500 gallons) of water, 6,000 in-flight meals provided by national flag carrier Qantas, as well as gas and gasoline.

Prime Minister John Howard on Tuesday pledged that his administration would help shattered communities rebuild.

"The federal government will give what is needed to get these communities back on their feet," Howard said in a radio interview.

Neil Clarke, mayor of Johnstone Shire which includes Innisfail, compared the devastation to the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami.

"Southeast Asia had their tsunami, we've got our own ... disaster," Clarke told Macquarie Radio network.

Queensland state political leader Premier Peter Beattie said it could take days to restore power and water supplies to Innisfail, a farming town about 100 kilometers (60 miles) south of the major tourist town of Cairns.

The storm's casualty toll was low because people left town or went to shelters after authorities posted warnings. Residents and officials were mindful of the damage Hurricane Katrina did to New Orleans and Mississippi last August, said Ben Creagh, an emergency services spokesman for Queensland state.

Farmers were among the hardest hit. The region is a major growing region for bananas and sugar cane, and vast tracts of the crops were flattened.

President of the Australian Banana Growers' Council, Patrick Leahy, said he faced at least six months without an income after Cyclone Larry destroyed his banana crop.

"We're going to take at least A$300 to A$350 million (US$215 million to US$250 million) out of the economy of north Queensland over the next nine months," he added.

The storm was the most powerful to hit Australia since Christmas Eve 1974, when Cyclone Tracy destroyed the northern city of Darwin, killing 65 people.

http://www.cnn.com/2006/WORLD/asiapc....ap/index.html

[WolfMoon]

That's some horrific devistation.

I hope that they can rebuild a lot of it.

[Ben Lahnger]

Fortunately, it seems that the evacuation call was heeded and everyone is hopeful for a minimal loss of lives. No question the economic impact is huge. And all those poor people without homes. It was hard enough to see that here, when the US has so many resources ... I think it's going to be a long, difficult struggle to recovery there.

The people of Australia are in my thoughts and in my wishes for good fortune.

[TheKorovaMilkbar]

That's really awful. I hope there weren't many deaths. Did we have anyone in that area, or do they all live more southward?

[winged_dreams]

Wow, our planet's weather is getting worse and worse. I hope all our of Australian members are ok. And all those people have my sympathies and hopes.

[Ben Lahnger]

That never flashed through my head. But then, when hurricane Charley was tearing up the Florida coastline and the headlines in 2004, I didn't ever think of Charlie Chaplin.

They have a practice of retiring names from the most disastrous storms - Charley will be replaced on the names list by Colin in 2010. So I suspect that after the devastation of this monster cyclone, Larry will be retired and replaced with something like Leroy or Louie.

[Ben Lahnger]

There really aren't a lot of great names that start with L. But then, I've always been iffy about attaching human names to them anyways. The meteorologists took a wrong turn somewhere. We don't name earthquakes, mudslides, wildfires, blizzards or other natural occuring disasters.

I'm with you on wishing I could do something to help. I was able to kick in a little something financially for the Katrina survivors, but being out of work makes even that kind of offering impossible for me now. It is frustrating.

[Ben Lahnger]

That was in my thoughts when I wrote about my situation. I knew you and I could relate to each other in these circumstances.

I can't conceive of a way to help even by volunteering any of the ample supply of free time I currently have. It just seems too far away.

I may have to go look at the Red Cross's website and see what's up there as far as volunteer efforts are concerned

[rockandrose]

Sadly, one man was discovered dead due to this ravaged cyclone.

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The category-five cyclone also claimed its first apparent victim.

In Innisfail, police found a 76-year-old man dead inside a caravan which had been damaged by a tree knocked over by Larry. Police attributed his death to "natural causes" but he was last seen alive on Sunday, in the hours before Larry struck.

http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au...5E2702,00.html

[Ben Lahnger]

Rose, I'm afraid he won't be the only one. Glad to hear you're okay!