Gumleaf
February 1st, 2011, 07:42 PM
11:00 AEST Wed Feb 2 2011
By ninemsn staff
http://news.ninemsn.com.au/national/8205143/yasi-most-devastating-in-queenslands-history
Queensland is bracing for the most severe cyclone to hit the state in living memory, with gale-force winds upwards of 300km/h expected to devastate a vast stretch of highly-populated coastline.
Families in the state's far north are bunkering down ahead of the 500km-wide, category five Cyclone Yasi, which will make landfill between Cairns and Townsville — most likely near Innisfail — around 10pm (AEDT) tonight.
But the cyclone's destructive weather is due to begin as early as midday today — and may not weaken for another 24 hours.
"Frankly, I don't think Australia has ever seen a storm of this size, this intensity in an area as popular as this stretch of our coast," Queensland Premier Anna Bligh told ABC.
The Bureau of Meteorology (BoM) described Yasi — which is twice the physical size of Cyclone Larry — as the most life-threatening storm in generations.
At Cairns, residents at low-lying areas have been told to abandon their homes with a storm surge of up to 2m expected in parts of the city, including the CBD, when the cyclone makes landfall at high tide tonight.
But council officials said the region would see 125km/h winds as early as midday, picking up to 200km/h by tonight.
But BoM forecasters say the worst-hit areas will experience wind gusts of 300km/h — more intense than the 250km/h gusts felt by Cyclone Tracy in 1974.
More than 30,000 Queenslanders have been relocated ahead of Yasi and Premier Bligh said there is still a very narrow window of opportunity for people in risk areas to move to safer ground.
"This is 24 hours of some of the most frightening weather that most people will ever have experienced," Ms Bligh told TODAY.
One Cairns resident told ninemsn he would wait a little longer before deciding whether to evacuate.
"We've gone through worse before," Scott, 38, said. "If it gets too bad, I've got places I can go."
Townsville resident Sarah Kirby, 26, told ninemsn a sense of foreboding had gripped the city as winds began to pick up.
Panic-buying at her local Woolworths store last night had emptied the shelves of bottled water and this morning residents watched as army personnel evacuated at-risk streets.
Some have moved to higher ground and others drove inland, said Ms Kirkby, who lives in a concrete apartment block 50m from the beach.
"A lot of people in town haven't been through a cyclone — I've grown up locally though cyclones, I'm comfortable getting under the mattress," she said.
Major General Mick Slater, who heads Queensland's Flood Recovery Taskforce, warned people not to be "lulled into a false sense of security" when the cyclone's giant 100km eye passes over.
"If you pass right through the middle you'll have the maximum period of calm, which could be in excess of an hour," he said at a press conference earlier.
"Closer to the edge of the eye of the cyclone it might be a matter of 10 or 15 minutes and you don't know where in the eye you are, so you can't risk poking your head out until the cyclone has passed," he said.
Senior BoM forecaster Rick Threlfall told the Courier-Mail that while the area where the eye crosses is important, destructive winds will be felt up to 200km/h either side of it.
Ms Bligh warned that residents in cyclone-affected areas may lose power at some stage and be cut off from all communications, with mobile phone towers also expected to be brought down by powerful wind gusts.
Ms Bligh also warned that emergency workers will be unable to access many areas until after the cyclone passes.
By ninemsn staff
http://news.ninemsn.com.au/national/8205143/yasi-most-devastating-in-queenslands-history
Queensland is bracing for the most severe cyclone to hit the state in living memory, with gale-force winds upwards of 300km/h expected to devastate a vast stretch of highly-populated coastline.
Families in the state's far north are bunkering down ahead of the 500km-wide, category five Cyclone Yasi, which will make landfill between Cairns and Townsville — most likely near Innisfail — around 10pm (AEDT) tonight.
But the cyclone's destructive weather is due to begin as early as midday today — and may not weaken for another 24 hours.
"Frankly, I don't think Australia has ever seen a storm of this size, this intensity in an area as popular as this stretch of our coast," Queensland Premier Anna Bligh told ABC.
The Bureau of Meteorology (BoM) described Yasi — which is twice the physical size of Cyclone Larry — as the most life-threatening storm in generations.
At Cairns, residents at low-lying areas have been told to abandon their homes with a storm surge of up to 2m expected in parts of the city, including the CBD, when the cyclone makes landfall at high tide tonight.
But council officials said the region would see 125km/h winds as early as midday, picking up to 200km/h by tonight.
But BoM forecasters say the worst-hit areas will experience wind gusts of 300km/h — more intense than the 250km/h gusts felt by Cyclone Tracy in 1974.
More than 30,000 Queenslanders have been relocated ahead of Yasi and Premier Bligh said there is still a very narrow window of opportunity for people in risk areas to move to safer ground.
"This is 24 hours of some of the most frightening weather that most people will ever have experienced," Ms Bligh told TODAY.
One Cairns resident told ninemsn he would wait a little longer before deciding whether to evacuate.
"We've gone through worse before," Scott, 38, said. "If it gets too bad, I've got places I can go."
Townsville resident Sarah Kirby, 26, told ninemsn a sense of foreboding had gripped the city as winds began to pick up.
Panic-buying at her local Woolworths store last night had emptied the shelves of bottled water and this morning residents watched as army personnel evacuated at-risk streets.
Some have moved to higher ground and others drove inland, said Ms Kirkby, who lives in a concrete apartment block 50m from the beach.
"A lot of people in town haven't been through a cyclone — I've grown up locally though cyclones, I'm comfortable getting under the mattress," she said.
Major General Mick Slater, who heads Queensland's Flood Recovery Taskforce, warned people not to be "lulled into a false sense of security" when the cyclone's giant 100km eye passes over.
"If you pass right through the middle you'll have the maximum period of calm, which could be in excess of an hour," he said at a press conference earlier.
"Closer to the edge of the eye of the cyclone it might be a matter of 10 or 15 minutes and you don't know where in the eye you are, so you can't risk poking your head out until the cyclone has passed," he said.
Senior BoM forecaster Rick Threlfall told the Courier-Mail that while the area where the eye crosses is important, destructive winds will be felt up to 200km/h either side of it.
Ms Bligh warned that residents in cyclone-affected areas may lose power at some stage and be cut off from all communications, with mobile phone towers also expected to be brought down by powerful wind gusts.
Ms Bligh also warned that emergency workers will be unable to access many areas until after the cyclone passes.