Brisbane, QLD


Thursday, February 3, 2011

THE AFTERMATH OF YASI

Last  night the people of north Queensland had a frightful night, especially those who stayed in their own homes. We have heard shocking stories of how the wind shook their houses and wrenched their roofs off. They told of the noise which sounded like freight trains or jet planes roaring past their windows, which lasted for hours and hours.
Those that went to evacuation centres were luckier, although some had to evacuate to a safer centre during the night. These people are sheltering in a shopping centre while......
the storm roared outside for hours, the eye passed over the smaller towns of Tully, Mission Beach and Cardwell at about 12.30 pm. The second part of the storm was even more furious.

By morning the winds were still dangerous and police wouldn't let people return to their houses for some time until the storm surges and wind decreased. The main street of Tulley was littered with steel roofs and awnings.

95% of Australia's banana  plantations have been wiped out. 

Yasi lifted the beach up onto the highway at Cardwell.

It also threw million dollar yachts and tourist boats onto the shore and smashed them up.

Finally when those from evacuation centres returned to their homes, some were devastated while...

others were elated to find their's undamaged. The town of Innisfail obliterated 5 years ago by cyclone Larry. The houses and buildings that were destroyed had to be rebuilt to strict cyclone resistant specifications, so many houses and buildings were not too badly damaged this time.

However, in Mission Beach, Tulley and Cardwell damage was horrific. So far there have been no deaths recorded. Well done to the emergency plan put in place by the state govt. and local councils.

22 comments:

  1. Wow! Just .... Wow! Did you have any damage? I gotta say though....I like you guys' names for cyclones better than our guys' names for hurricanes here.

    Yasi. That's my next cat's name for sure.

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  2. All the devastations, so sad to see. So many people a victim of loosing their house or living. It is good your governement has rules to improve the building of the houses and thanks to the preparations not many people has been hurt. Hope nature will be quiet now for a long time!

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  3. Diane;) you and your country have been in my mind all day, wondering... What devastation, but hats off to your government and for the people of Oz who rallied together to weather this storm. Thanks for sharing this with us. Jo

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  4. So many brave people went through not only a horrifying night, but the lead up to it and now the aftermath.
    The stories we hear on the news are truly incredible. The human spirit continues to prevail.

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  5. Having seen these images, I certainly won't complain about our snow no matter how much we have. What a terrible shame with all this devastation happening.
    I hope you are safe and well.
    ☼ Sunny
    P.S. Sorry for my lack of comments, I have been having some computer problems.

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  6. And how was it in your house ? I have seen the storm at TV ! terrible. The worst I ever lived was in 91 when we had 200km/h and 3 trees from our garden fell over the street ! Ever since I am not at ease when it's windy.

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  7. Unbelievable, Diane. This brought back memories of several bad hurricanes we have had in our country. I told you I think that my eldest son and family lost their jobs/business and home from Hurricane Ike two years ago in Galveston, TX... The area has come back---but slowly.

    They had fled to TN before the storm hit --so they were safe... But they had to start over. They are back in Galveston now praying that another hurricane doesn't hit them.

    Thanks for the info... What a horribly sad situation for those people.
    Hugs,
    Betsy

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  8. It's amazing that no one was killed.

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  9. Our thoughts and prayers are with everyone affected by this huge storm. Diane, thank you for sharing the images we might not otherwise get to see.

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  10. How dreadful to return home to that - and no doubt they were praying all night for something better. How tragic - but I guess in the end things could have been worse; the planning sounds better than this country might have achieved!

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  11. Thanks for the video, Diane. It is just horrific to watch. Those people are in my prayers. Where does one begin again? I'm so glad you were out of harm's way. When does your cyclone season end?

    Take care...Blessings!
    CottonLady

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  12. I just saw a news report on your cyclone, and they are still reporting no deaths as a result of the storm. I hope that continues to be the case. The destruction is absolutely unbelievable. We should never underestimate the power of Nature.

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  13. Hi Diane; such a devastation; it needs so much guts to go through something like this and start again. I feel very sorry for all the crops that has been lost. I know how it feels when you lose your income, like the Banana and sugarcane farmers have now and again. The pictures and video are very realistic and so scary.Diane,
    thank you for your commen.t

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  14. I certainly feel for all the people who have lost their homes and belongings. It must have been a terrifying night for everyone. It was a blessing no lives were lost. I hope that is still the case in the days to follow.

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  15. My goodness! Enough already! You guys have been through hell..now this? I am so sorry. Know you are receiving healing hugs from Utah my sweet friend..:-)

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  16. Lucy and gattina: We didn't experience any wind from the cyclone. Luckily the centre was a long way north of us and we just missed getting the tail. So no damage to us. Someone up there is looking after us, we were safe from both the floods and the cyclone.
    CottonLady: The cyclone season usually ends with the end of summer, so that would be at the end of February but there have been cyclones in March too. Nothing is usual this summer so far.

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  17. Thank you for the update! Our news this evening had zilch. Your blog has widened by area of caring. Those pictures are excellent, thanks for reprinting them. It is the same in the US when there are hurricanes -- the cities that have suffered through one and then rebuilt to the safety specs do better when another one hits. (We hope our teeny house is built to spces -- it is supposed to be. I'm sure here on the FL coast it's just a matter oftime before we get hit. Hopefullyl when we're not here.

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  18. So much devastation and distruction, it is a miracle that no one was killed. The video is heart breaking to watch but it really tells the story, thanks for sharing.

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  19. What's happening is just awful. My Japanese teacher who lives in Cairns cannot be reached - so I am wondering if she is ok. Maybe her internet connection in just down... and I hope she's ok.

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  20. Wow, Yasi left behind much destruction. It is vey sad. My heart goes out to all that have lost their homes. And it makes me feel silly for whining over the cold weather and snow we are having here. I hope Australia gets a break soon, it seems to be one thing after another.

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  21. Queensland has had more than its share of bad weather this year, Diane. I'm glad the loss of life was minimal!

    It seems weather has been more severe eveywhere. Predictions are the tornado season here will be more severe thsi spring.

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  22. Some great photos here Qld has been through so much this year but us Aussies are fantatsic people and rally around and help each other. Yes I know the same can be said for people in other countries struck by disasters but hey I like to think Aussies are a cut above the rest so shoot me........lol

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