Monster Storm Bears Down On Australia

Monster Storm Bears Down On Australia

news.sky.com

Australia has begun evacuating thousands of people from its northeastern coast ahead of a cyclone that could rival Hurricane Katrina in its destructive power.

(visit the link for the full news article)

Cyclone Yasi is 400 miles wide and bearing down on an area which has already suffered from devastating floods.
The state premier, Anna Bligh, has described it as a "monster, killer storm" and she predicted deadly surges inland.
Sea levels are expected to rise significantly and will lead to flooding of low lying coastal areas according to an official forecast.
Yasi will also bring damaging waves and strong currents.
A strong monsoon is also feeding the cyclone and this could lead to it maintaining strength as sweeps inland, potentially up to 600 miles to the outback mining city of Mount Isa.

news.sky.com
(visit the link for the full news article)

Just this morning they said it was now a category 5 and this thing is huge in area! It is headed towards the north of Queensland but the floods were further south from there. We are all so worried about them up there and this is scary as it also said that it is going to not slow down once it hits the coastline and keep moving inland. It is unbelievable.

Originally posted by Australiana
Just this morning they said it was now a category 5 and this thing is huge in area! It is headed towards the north of Queensland but the floods were further south from there. We are all so worried about them up there and this is scary as it also said that it is going to not slow down once it hits the coastline and keep moving inland. It is unbelievable.

My prayers are with you all man, I cant believe whats happening over there, its crazy.

Keep us posted on your situation in your area if you can, cheers, good luck from the UK.

Yep! The Airforce is currently emptying hospitals, and moving patients to Brisbane. This thing is going to break records. 160MPH winds guaranteed.

... I hope everyone gets out in time and that the destruction after Yasi departure is minimul

Lets hope they have a better emergency system than FEMA...this could be devastating.

this storm is650 kilometres east north-east of Cairns and 650 kilometres north-east of Townsville, moving west south-west at 30 kilometres per hour. also has been updated to a cat 5,Thank you for alerting us to this, it seems the united
states is not the only country at the moment dealing with bad weather. I will for sure keep up with this thread and look for any updates that you might provide.

look after yourself people of Australia, I live in an area of hurricanes on the pacific and it looks like a massive storm and you shouldn't think it's ok to stay there, move away if you have to.

Be safe!

Man this is just crazy. My heart goes out to you Australia. You have been through hell and it's not over with. I hope everyone stays safe and secure. Good luck to you and your families.

will melbourne be ok, i know its in a completely different part of oz but my mother lives there and i am paranoid

I pray for survival of all the people, in the cyclones path.
It's another sign of "human caused climate change."

Try to be safe,

Erno

Melbourne will be OK so please don't worry and your mum will be fine. Only the north east of Australia is in for tough time.

Apparently the army is helping evacuate 30,000 homes now and evacuation centres are already filling with people in preparation. It was said that there is not one single bird left in the tropical rain forests as they have already flown away. It is so creepy and have now said the cyclone Yasi can now increase into an even stronger category 5!

Oh my God. this is horrible!!!! Keep us posted!! I hope that people get out to safer places. My thoughts are with you all!!!

My cousin is currently taking stock and shelter with his young family against the forseen disaster. He lives in Cairns, a few blocks from the coast. My thoughts are with him and I hope to get a few updates during the storm.

I deign to stay away from the conspiratorial band-wagon here, but I recall during the recent flooding that a national news network was predicting this cyclone a full month before...well before last week. At the time I found it extremely odd--that the meterological (spelling is awful this morning) bodies of the land could predict this cyclone so early, even before it had properly formed. I don't claim ANY level of expertise in this area, but is it actually possible to make such predictions about cyclones and their proposed path? It just struck me as peculiar considering how the cyclone has done exactly what was asked of it.

they just lost there weather station on willas island and that hasent hapend before so as from 10 am today they arent asking people to evacuate there making them now so not looking very good for us stay safe brothers an sisters i think we must of dune something wrong first rain and floods now YAS what next. the wind is starting to get prity strong allready see yous all tomorrow good luck

Good luck to all of the people over there... My toughts are with you.

Here is a map tracker -
Yasi

Here's what it looks like on a different satellite feed; radar not iR... chilling! Going to crush some peoples spirits.
Best wishes to all effected, including my relatives >_<




Image courtesy of new zealand metservice and a great program called unFREEz for making the gif.


edit: read of reports that victoria is flooding badly already, hasn't even hit shore :X