Cyclone Yasi hits Australia
One of the most powerful cyclones on record began battering Australia’s northeast coast on Wednesday, as the area’s top politician warned of “heartbreak”, as John Sparks reports.
(A satellite image shows Cyclone Yasi approaching the northeast coast of Australia – Reuters)
Early reports suggested that there were no deaths reported from the massive storm, State Premier Anna Bligh said.
“What I’m very relieved about is that we have yet to hear any reports from any police or any other source of any serious injury or fatality. All of our evacuation centres report that they’ve had no structural damage overnight,” she told Sky TV.
However emergency workers are still combing the area between Cairns and Townsville to assess the situation after the incredibly powerful cyclone, one of the biggest in Australia’s history, struck.
Ms Bligh told residents to brace themselves for “heartbreak” as they awoke to scenes of devastation.
The state is also still recovering from catastrophic flooding in January which left dozens of people dead and caused millions of pounds worth of damage.
Shelter
Thousands of people crammed into shelters in Queensland as the storm reached land. Around 30 people sheltered from Cyclone Yasi, which was upgraded to a category five storm, in the Reef Lodge Backpackers in Townsville.
Owner Dean Nixon-Harding told Channel 4 News they were well prepared. He said: “We’ve tied most things down and trimmed back trees…We’re quite well sheltered here though because we’re surrounded by large concrete buildings.”
Winds reached around 186 miles per hour in the storm’s peak – threatening even cyclone-proof homes.
There are so many of us here. Surely they have to do something, find somewhere safer to move us to before it arrives. Selwyn Hughes
Residents and backpackers scrambled to find safe havens.
Selwyn Hughes was, turned away from a packed shopping centre acting as a shelter in the city of Cairns, stood with his family in the uncovered carpark and said his only comfort for the moment was in numbers.
“There are so many of us here. Surely they have to do something, find somewhere safer to move us to before it arrives,” Hughes said, squatting on a pink suitcase with his five children, aged two to 13.”
‘Catastrophic’ storm
More than 400,000 people live in the cyclone’s path, which includes the cities of Cairns, Townsville and Mackay. The entire stretch is popular with tourists and includes Australia’s Great Barrier Reef.
Satellite images showed Yasi as a massive storm system covering an area bigger than Italy or New Zealand.