Australia: Cyclone Yasi Strikes Queensland Coast

by Jordan Yerman | February 2, 2011 at 08:31 am

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Australia Cyclone 'The Biggest in Nation's History'

Cyclone Yasi hit Australia's Queensland coast at Category-5 strength. 290 km/h (181mph) winds tore the roofs from houses and ripped trees from the ground. Over 90,000 people are trapped in Cyclone Yasi's path, which is taking it between Cairns and Townsville.

Queensland Premier Anna Bligh had no words of optimism, saying plainly that Queensland should brace for major devastation, warning those who did not (or could not) evacuate to stay in their homes, even if their roofs got ripped off by the cyclone. Winds faster than those of Hurricane Katrina have destroyed power generators, and winds are driving floodwaters into homes.

Australia: Cyclone Yasi Forces Queensland Evacuations

Ms Bligh warned power would be lost to vast areas of the state not affected by the cyclone, and could stay cut for several days.

''We're planning for an aftermath that may cause a catastrophic failure of essential services.''

Cassowary Coast councillor Ross Sorbello said the roof had been torn from his mother's house in Tully, where he was waiting out the storm, and local properties had suffered similar damage.

"We are talking about a pretty strong brick house that was built in the 70s, so god help us in the morning when we look at some of the older places," he said.

Before Cyclone Yasi hit, Cairns mayor Val Schier was interviewed by ABC:

VAL SCHIER, MAYOR, CAIRNS: Cairns has never experienced a cyclone of the intensity of the one that's about to hit us. We would expect, given the battering Cairns is going to have, that there may be loss of life. We hope that that's not the case.