Cyclone Yasi damage assessed by Australia

[Pravin R]

http://www.cbc.ca/world/story/2011/02/03/australia-cyclone-yasi.html

Hundreds of thousands of homes are still without power after Cyclone Yasi slammed parts of Australia's northeastern coast, battering several small coastal communities before weakening as it moved inland. Residents and officials expressed relief that no one was reported killed by the powerful storm, which roared across northern Queensland with winds up to 280 km/h.

Tidal surges sent waves crashing ashore two blocks into seaside communities and several small towns directly under Yasi's path — including Mission Beach, Cardwell and Tully — were hit hard by the powerful storm. Authorities are still trying to determine the extent of the damage but as many as 180,000 homes in northern Queensland were still without power Thursday, officials said.

"Hundreds of homes have been damaged, their roofs ripped off and some have been flattened all together," freelance reporter Roger Maynard told CBC News. The strong winds and rain also devastated large tracts of banana and sugar cane crops. Lisa Rawsley sat out the cyclone at her house in Mission Beach.

"We heard an almighty bang, an almighty crash. We didn't know whether it was our house, what it was or a big tree coming down," Rawsley said. Queensland Premier Anna Bligh said several thousand people would be temporarily homeless due to the powerful storm. The Australian Red Cross and local governments were working on registering people in need and finding places to house them, she said.

Maynard said the larger towns of Townsville and Cairns didn't see as much damage as the smaller communities. "The wind wasn't quite so strong in Townsville and in Cairns," he said. "They weren't seriously affected in the major populated areas."

Officials said no major structural damage was done, though parts of Townsville were flooded. Bligh said emergency workers surveying the damage would need several days to do a proper assessment.

"In Cardwell, for example, police have not been able to get in yet and it's far too early I think to even start talking about dodging bullets," the premier said. Forecasters expect Yasi to be downgraded to a tropical low as it reaches the town of Mount Isa later Thursday, some 900 kilometres inland from where it first made landfall.

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[M.E.]

[video=youtube;3SVWOYfSDnU]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3SVWOYfSDnU[/video]

 

[<insert witty name here>]

I'll take the snowstorm in TO any day :tongue:.

 

[crazy4fun]

You have to wonder where all the birds go during these storms?

After the storm passes the gulls are out in full force scavenging....

I can't help but think: there's a bird lazily drifting around the coast and then the storm hits and it goes WEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE lookit me GOOOOOOOOOOOOO lol.....as it hits warp speed........