Queenslanders Face Further Terror

It seems that all I blog about these days is the weather but it’s been one hell of a few months weather-wise over here. Devastating floods, blazing bush fires, battering cyclones, and now a super-cyclone that the Bureau of Meteorology has predicted will be “more life-threatening than any storm in recent generations.” Worst of all, this cyclone will hit flood-ravaged Queensland, still trying to clean up and rebuild following the tragic flooding and storm surges that inundated the state a few weeks ago. 2011 has so far been a pretty crappy year for poor Queenslanders and it seems things will only get worse.


With wind gusts at the core of cyclone Yasi already reaching 295km/h, the prediction is that by the time it reaches land the winds will exceed 300km/h. Unfortunately, a number of factors coinciding will result in the effects of the cyclone being even more devastating than they might otherwise have been. Yasi will be at its strongest around about the time it reaches landfall, resulting in these terrifyingly powerful winds and it will also coincide with a high tide, meaning 7 metre high storm surges can be expected. People are panicking, they are crying, they are fearing for their lives, and not without reason. The Bureau has described the cyclone as “a serious threat to life and property.”

This is not scaremongering by the media, these quotes have not come from sensational newspaper headlines. These words have come from official organisations – the State Premier, the Bureau of Meteorology, the State Emergency Response Unit. Even Major General Mick Slater, who heads the state’s Flood Recovery Taskforce, earlier said that Yasi is “potentially so dangerous you can’t risk leaving preparations to the last minute.” Anna Bligh, Queensland’s Premier, has described Yasi as “terrifying” and a “monster”.

When you consider that the cyclone will travel over 400km inland, at which point it will still be Category 3 rated, it is not overly dramatic to use such strong adjectives. It has been upgraded to Category 5, the most severe category, since the early hours of the morning, making Yasi the first Category 5 cyclone to hit Queensland since 1918. The information being relayed to us constantly throughout the day seems to get more frightening by the minute. The cyclone has already taken out one of the Bureau’s monitoring stations and will batter the state for at least 20 hours. Possibly the most staggering fact I heard today, one that really gives you an idea of the incredible strength of this cyclone, is that Yasi has enough energy to power the entire world for a year.

All the people of Queensland can do is prepare, bunker down and pray. With the State Disaster Deputy Commissioner Ian Stewart warning that people who have chosen to stay at home must brace themselves for the possibility that “the roofs of the houses may lift off,” there will be a terrifying 24 hours ahead. The world is praying with them.