Severe Tropical Cyclone Yasi hit category five off north Queensland this morning as the weather bureau warned it was likely to be deadlier than any storm seen in Australia in living memory.
http://www.abc.net.au/...
At 5am Queensland time, the cyclone was 650 kilometres east-northeast of Cairns and 650 kilometres northeast of Townsville moving west southwest at 30km/h
Coastal residents, particularly between Port Douglas and Townsville, were being warned of an "extremely dangerous" storm tide as the cyclone approaches and crosses the coast. It is likely to cause flooding some way inland.
Winds with gusts to 90km/h were expected on coastal islands later on Wednesday morning, then extend on to the coast during the day.
Gusts over 125km/h were expected between Cooktown and Ingham in the afternoon, and gusts reaching above 280km/h between Port Douglas and Cardwell in the evening as the cyclone approached.
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Residents in low-lying parts of Cairns and Townsville have been told to move to higher ground and patients from two Cairns hospitals are being flown to Brisbane overnight.
This State and Country cannot catch a break.. this comes after a previous cyclone tore throw some parts of Queensland not to long ago.. and the massive floods in Queensland and Victoria which left many dead and billions of dollars in damage.
I only hope that the people heeded the warnings and evacuated. This is going to be a VERY dangerous event.
http://news.ninemsn.com.au/...
http://www.smh.com.au/...
Update:
Premier Anna Bligh says the storm's expected landfall at about 10:00pm AEST is the worst possible news for a state which is already reeling from recent flooding.
She says Cyclone Yasi is the "most catastrophic storm to ever hit our coast".
"Frankly, I don't think Australia has ever seen a storm of this intensity in an area as populated as this stretch of our coast," she said.
"Whether it's cyclonic devastating winds, storm surge, or torrential rain further west as a result of this, we are facing an extreme event that will not be over in 24 hours, but will possibly take several days before the full flooding effect is felt across the region as well, potentially right through to Mount Isa.
"We are facing a storm of catastrophic proportions in a highly populated area. You've heard all of the statistics and what it all adds up to is a very, very frightening time for people and their families.
"This is not something that passes over the coast and is over in an hour. This is 24 hours of quite terrifying winds, anywhere up to 300 kilometres per hour, torrential rain, likely loss of electricity and mobile communications. People really need to be preparing themselves mentally as much as anyth
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