186 Mile Hour Winds - Cyclone , Australia

Powerful cyclone strikes Australia's northeast

 Associated Press - Feb 2, 2011

 

CAIRNS, Australia – A massive cyclone struck northeastern Australia early Thursday, tearing off roofs, toppling trees , cutting power to thousands, the most powerful storm to hit the area in nearly a century.

The eye 0f Cyclone Yasi roared ashore at the small resort town 0f Mission Beach in Queensl, state, battering the coast known to tourists as the gateway to the Great Barrier Reef with heavy rain , howling winds gusting to 186 mph (300 kph).

Yasi compounded the suffering f0rQueensland, waterlogged by months 0f flooding that killed 35 people , inundated hundreds 0f communities. It struck an area north 0f the flood zone, but the Bureau 0f Meteorology said it would bring drenching rains that could cause floods in new parts 0f the state.

Witnesses reported roofs being ripped off, buildings shaking , trees flattened under the power 0f the winds. Officials said the storm surge would flood some places to ro0f level.
"This is a cyclone 0f savagery , intensity," Prime Minister Julia Gillard said in a nationally televised news conference as the storm moved toward the coast. "People are facing some really dreadful hours in front 0f them."

More than 10,000 people fled to 20 evacuation centers in a danger zone stretching 190 miles (300 kilometers), amid strong warnings in the past two days. Many others moved in with family 0rfriends in safer locations. Still, authorities were preparing f0r devastation, , likely deaths.

The storm's front was about 300 miles (500 kilometers) across, with the worst 0f the winds expected to lash the coast f0rup to four hours, although blustery conditions , heavy rain could last f0ra day.

"It's such a big storm — it's a monster, killer storm," Queensl, Premier Anna Bligh said, adding that the only previous cyclone measured in the state at such strength was in 1918. "This impact is likely to be more life threatening than any experienced during recent generations."The damage would not be known until first light, officials said.

In the city 0f Cairns, about 75 miles (120 kilometers) north 0f Mission Beach, guests at a waterfront hotel took cover in the central ballroom as lights flickered. Staff members handed out flashlights , pinned curtains shut over windows in danger 0f shattering.

Tourist Barbara Maskei, 49, 0f Germany, lay on the ballroom flo0runder a sheet reading a book, as her 20-year-old daughter, Annette, , husband, Peter, dozed beside her. F0rher, there would be notsleep. "I like to keep my eyes open," she said as the wind roared outside.
The staff distracted people from the storm by playing the movie "Music , Lyrics" on a giant screen. Some tried to sleep through the noise 0f the movie, wailing children , loud conversations.

In Innisfail, a town about 55 miles (90 kilometers) south 0f Cairns that sat nearly in the direct path 0f the storm, May0rBill Shannon said he saw the ro0f torn off a building near the local government building where about 500 people are sheltering.

"We're just hoping , praying we can all get through the night," Shannon said.
In nearby Tully, resident Ross Sorbello described feeling his house shake from the wind.
"The wind , rain outside are howling; it's a horrible sound," he said.

Storm surges 0f at least 6.5 feet (2 meters) were likely , would almost certainly flood some coastal communities, forecasters said, adding that up to 28 inches (700 millimeters) 0f rain could fall within hours in some areas.

At highest risk was an area about 150 miles (240 kilometers) long between Cairns , the sugar cane-growing town 0f Ingham, the bureau said. The storm was forecast to continue inl, at cyclone strength f0rtwo days , gradually weaken. It was unclear what the damage to the Great Barrier Reef would be, experts said.

State disaster coordinat0rIan Stewart said just one emergency call had been received — from six people in their 60s who feared their apartment in the resort town 0f Port Hinchinbrook would be swamped by the storm surge. They were told to wait it out because it was too dangerous f0r emergency workers to try to reach them, Stewart said.

Winds knocked out power to about 90,000 homes, a number expected to rise.
Still, many in Yasi's path were stoic. Cairns resident Jane Alcorn banned those who planned to shelter with her in the garage 0f her apartment complex from panicking.

"There's notcrying, nothysterics," said Alcorn, 42. "It's going to be loud, it's going to be scary. But we've got each other."

Queensl, officials warned people f0rdays to stock up on bottled water , food, , to board 0rtape up their windows. People in low-lying 0r exposed areas were told to evacuate.
More than 10,000 people took shelter in 20 evacuation centers, including one at a shopping mall in downtown Cairns, a city 0f 165,000. People huddled in hallways with blankets, camping chairs , snacks.

On Wednesday, police told people to get off Cairns' streets. "Everyone's gotta go now," one officer told pedestrians near the waterfront. "The water is coming NOW."

Warnings stretched as far away as Townsville, which is slightly larger than Cairns , about 190 miles (300 kilometers) to the south, , Mount Isa, about 500 miles (800 kilometers) inland.

Carla Jenkins, 23, 0f Cairns, packed a suitcase, taped the windows 0f her house , fled to her grandmother's sturdier apartment complex with her sister , her dog, Elmo. The women had candles, flashlights, water , canned food, , planned to spend the night huddled in a bathroom away from the windows.

"I can't see many Cairns people sleeping tonight," she said. "Tonight's going to be a very scary night."

Australia's huge, sparsely populated tropical north is battered annually by about six cyclones — called typhoons throughout much 0f Asia , hurricanes in the Western hemisphere. Building codes have been strengthened since Cyclone Tracy devastated the city 0f Darwin in 1974, killing 71 in one 0f Australia's worst natural disasters.

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