[News] Jeebus.

[moonvoice]

Severe Tropical Cyclone Yasi has been upgraded to a Category 5 as 'the most catastrophic storm ever to hit Australia' takes aim at one of the most heavily populated areas in Queensland.





Residents told to prepare for '24 hours of terror.'

"Severe Tropical Cyclone Yasi was upgraded to category five this morning as the weather bureau warned it was likely to be "more life-threatening" than any storm seen in Australia in living memory.

Tens of thousands of people are fleeing their homes ahead of the monster storm, which is expected to hit the coast between Cairns and Innisfail with winds of up to 295 kilometres per hour near the core.

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 anything else."

The weather bureau says Cyclone Yasi poses an "extremely serious threat" to life and property within the warning area, especially between Port Douglas and Townsville."

*





My cousin has been unable to get back to Perth; so wishing her (and her kids, and her house) the best.

Comments

[spider_fox]

That's terrifying. I know it won't be much, but I hope the damage is as minimal as possible.

[redsixwing]

Holy boop. :(

I hope everything goes as smoothly as it can.

[starstrider]

Whoahdamn. =(

[bunny_m]

The new landfall is perfect to coincide with the high tide as well, it seems.

QLD just can't catch a break this Summer, it seems.

[moonvoice]

No, they really can't. It's scary that cyclone season isn't even over yet. :/

[silverjackal]

Gods. I can only hope for the least possible damage to occur, both in terms of property and loss of life, and most particularly safety for your family members. I can't even imagine how strong those winds will be. I've been out in 100 km hour wind, and it was beyond incredible. Three times that is incomprehensible.

[moonvoice]

I can't imagine either. :( And it sucks, because that region is mostly all coastal - the population pretty much lives on or by the coast. It's just... gah. It's going to be a very tense 32 hours, really, because it's going to take it a long time to cross.

The forecasters from the Bureau of Meteorology are saying it could get stronger before it hits the coast. In Australia, there is no category higher than a Cat 5, but they're now saying it could be a 'strong Cat 5.' :( A lot of Queenslanders have lived through cyclones before, but even the seasoned cyclone experiencers are frightened at this one. My cousin is scared out of her mind; this is her first cyclone in Queensland and she's only been there for less than a year. :/

[shimmerhawk]

My goodness, Australia's been having some crazy weather lately. I'm glad it's a bit quieter where you are!

[white_rabbit]

Is this the same storm but more powerful, or a new storm? I could have sworn the last one you posted was on the other side of Australia entirely...

24 hours is a long time. I really hope people are able to keep safe and that damages/loss of life is minimal. :( This makes the 'bad' snow storm moving in through the south look like a laughable thing to worry about.

[moonvoice]

This is a different cyclone entirely, on the opposite side of the country.

[bodlon]

Yikes. Is it me, or has this been a rough 12 months for Australia?

[leecetheartist]

rdm has been looking at the wind reports, look what happened to Willis Island's wind gauge...http://rdm.dreamwidth.org/32011.html#cutid1

[moonvoice]

Oh my god, the wind gauge broke? That's just...

I have no words. I'd like to see a cyclone one day, but not like this.

[amethystfirefly]

I've heard this compared to Katrina and... I just go fuckfuckfuck. :/

Everyone there is in my prayers and thought. :/

"But there's no climate change!!" has become a very overused "punchline" around here. Because, y'know. Storms like this and the one we're going through are just completely normal, right?

[ariestess]

Holy shitfire, Batman! That's terrifying!

Stay safe!

[hrafn]

Holy shit.

I'm reading in reverse chronological order, so I saw your most recent post, and had an "Oh shit" moment then, but seeing the size of the storm relatively to the size of your ENTIRE FREAKING CONTINENT makes it look even more awful :(

I really hope it is not as devastating as Katrina was.

[outlineofash]

Holy shit. O_O

[erynn]

I've got the altar lit up for everyone. That's just so damned terrifying. I'd been hearing since summer last year that this, being an La Niña year, it was going to be just awful, but I never envisioned anything like this.