SW Pacific: Severe TC Larry (Ex TD 15)
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AussieMark
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AussieMark
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Larry 'tearing apart homes'
CATEGORY five Cyclone Larry is tearing homes apart as it crosses the far north Queensland coast, with police unable to leave their station to answer desperate calls for help.
The most destructive part of the huge storm has made landfall near the town of Innisfail, south of Cairns, unroofing homes with wind gusts reaching 290km/h.
Larry's winds are at least as strong as those Cyclone Tracy unleashed in Darwin in 1974, in a storm that killed 71 people and destroyed more than 70 per cent of the city's buildings, leaving over 20,000 people homeless.
Innisfail police have been inundated with calls from residents whose homes are "literally crumbling around them".
"We have roofs flying off in Fly Fish Point, Silkwood and in the city centre," a Innisfail police spokeswoman said.
"And we have trees across roads."
She said most of the destruction was occurring in the regions just north-east of the town.
Police had been unable to leave the station, despite hundreds of calls for help, she said.
Callers were very scared.
"Homes are literally crumbling around them," she said.
Innisfail Hospital director of nursing Leslie Harris said wards had been cleared yesterday to make way for possible cyclone victims.
Bruce Gunn from the Cyclone Warning Centre said it was one of the biggest cyclones seen, with Innisfail hit hard, as well as Cairns.
"We've had reports of roofs taken off, KFCs blown away, admissions to Cairns hospital. It's pretty windy around Cairns too, on the northern side of the cyclone," he told ABC radio.
"Apparently it's quite difficult to walk around at the moment.
"And sea levels are starting to rise too, and starting to break the banks over the highest astronautical tides.
"So all in all it's happening right now at the moment up in north Queensland."
Mr Gunn said Innisfail was in the calm of the eye of the storm now.
"The cyclone has crossed the coast over over Innisfail which is in calm conditions right now," he said.
"But the other side of the cyclone is just about to pass over it so they will be getting cyclone strength winds from the other direction soon.
"Stronger winds are still persisting south of Innisfail in the Tully area (south of Cairns), where there is some heavier rainfalls, not as much heavy rainfall as you might expect, more wind-related damage."
An Innisfail resident, who gave his name only as John, told the Seven Network that many windows had blown in and about "one in every 10 roofs" had been torn off.
Another resident from Mission Beach, south of Cairns, said homes there had also suffered significant damage.
"Trees are down, there's branches everywhere," the resident, identified only as Bernadette, told Seven.
"The next-door house has lost part of its roof ... my backyard is absolutely covered in branches.
"We're right in the middle of it and I'm just praying and hoping it moves fast."
CATEGORY five Cyclone Larry is tearing homes apart as it crosses the far north Queensland coast, with police unable to leave their station to answer desperate calls for help.
The most destructive part of the huge storm has made landfall near the town of Innisfail, south of Cairns, unroofing homes with wind gusts reaching 290km/h.
Larry's winds are at least as strong as those Cyclone Tracy unleashed in Darwin in 1974, in a storm that killed 71 people and destroyed more than 70 per cent of the city's buildings, leaving over 20,000 people homeless.
Innisfail police have been inundated with calls from residents whose homes are "literally crumbling around them".
"We have roofs flying off in Fly Fish Point, Silkwood and in the city centre," a Innisfail police spokeswoman said.
"And we have trees across roads."
She said most of the destruction was occurring in the regions just north-east of the town.
Police had been unable to leave the station, despite hundreds of calls for help, she said.
Callers were very scared.
"Homes are literally crumbling around them," she said.
Innisfail Hospital director of nursing Leslie Harris said wards had been cleared yesterday to make way for possible cyclone victims.
Bruce Gunn from the Cyclone Warning Centre said it was one of the biggest cyclones seen, with Innisfail hit hard, as well as Cairns.
"We've had reports of roofs taken off, KFCs blown away, admissions to Cairns hospital. It's pretty windy around Cairns too, on the northern side of the cyclone," he told ABC radio.
"Apparently it's quite difficult to walk around at the moment.
"And sea levels are starting to rise too, and starting to break the banks over the highest astronautical tides.
"So all in all it's happening right now at the moment up in north Queensland."
Mr Gunn said Innisfail was in the calm of the eye of the storm now.
"The cyclone has crossed the coast over over Innisfail which is in calm conditions right now," he said.
"But the other side of the cyclone is just about to pass over it so they will be getting cyclone strength winds from the other direction soon.
"Stronger winds are still persisting south of Innisfail in the Tully area (south of Cairns), where there is some heavier rainfalls, not as much heavy rainfall as you might expect, more wind-related damage."
An Innisfail resident, who gave his name only as John, told the Seven Network that many windows had blown in and about "one in every 10 roofs" had been torn off.
Another resident from Mission Beach, south of Cairns, said homes there had also suffered significant damage.
"Trees are down, there's branches everywhere," the resident, identified only as Bernadette, told Seven.
"The next-door house has lost part of its roof ... my backyard is absolutely covered in branches.
"We're right in the middle of it and I'm just praying and hoping it moves fast."
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AussieMark
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Cyclone lashing Innisfail: minister
A CHURCH minister has described the frightening scene as a powerful cyclone crosses coastal north Queensland, saying the storm is wreaking havoc in the region.
Tropical Cyclone Larry was upgraded to a maximum category five system and has crossed the coast near Innisfail.
The storm is packing destructive wind gusts of up to 290km/h.
The Seventh Day Adventist minister at Innisfail, Dana Howard, said he was taking shelter with a few locals at the church's community centre, but the building was barely holding up against the gales.
"All our windows have blown out on one side, the roller doors have blown out ... next door's house has gone, it's pretty bad," he told ABC radio.
"Thankfully most of the people went over to the TAFE college instead of coming to this hall so there's only three of us here at the moment.
"The trees are all just totally stripped or gone over.
"It's just amazing."
Mr Howard said they were holed up in the smallest room at the centre and it would be fatal to go outside.
"You'd be silly to try and go anywhere. Just stay put. There's iron blowing around outside, we've seen the roof of next door blow over on top of us and hit this building and smashed into the building," he said.
"You'd be dead if you walked outside."
Asked what he would do over the next few hours, Mr Howard said: "Pray".
"I'm serious.
"The cyclone is good and proper here, there's no doubt about it. I don't know what it's going to get up to but it's well and truly here."
More than 1000 residents have been evacuated and several hundred kilometres of the north Queensland coast are expected to be affected.
A CHURCH minister has described the frightening scene as a powerful cyclone crosses coastal north Queensland, saying the storm is wreaking havoc in the region.
Tropical Cyclone Larry was upgraded to a maximum category five system and has crossed the coast near Innisfail.
The storm is packing destructive wind gusts of up to 290km/h.
The Seventh Day Adventist minister at Innisfail, Dana Howard, said he was taking shelter with a few locals at the church's community centre, but the building was barely holding up against the gales.
"All our windows have blown out on one side, the roller doors have blown out ... next door's house has gone, it's pretty bad," he told ABC radio.
"Thankfully most of the people went over to the TAFE college instead of coming to this hall so there's only three of us here at the moment.
"The trees are all just totally stripped or gone over.
"It's just amazing."
Mr Howard said they were holed up in the smallest room at the centre and it would be fatal to go outside.
"You'd be silly to try and go anywhere. Just stay put. There's iron blowing around outside, we've seen the roof of next door blow over on top of us and hit this building and smashed into the building," he said.
"You'd be dead if you walked outside."
Asked what he would do over the next few hours, Mr Howard said: "Pray".
"I'm serious.
"The cyclone is good and proper here, there's no doubt about it. I don't know what it's going to get up to but it's well and truly here."
More than 1000 residents have been evacuated and several hundred kilometres of the north Queensland coast are expected to be affected.
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Derek Ortt
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WindRunner
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"We've had reports of roofs taken off, KFCs blown away, admissions to Cairns hospital. It's pretty windy around Cairns too, on the northern side of the cyclone," he told ABC radio.
Just a quick question - does KFC mean the same there as it does hear in America (the fast food joing), or is it something else? Because if they're talking about fast food buildings . . . wow.
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AussieMark
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WindRunner wrote:"We've had reports of roofs taken off, KFCs blown away, admissions to Cairns hospital. It's pretty windy around Cairns too, on the northern side of the cyclone," he told ABC radio.
Just a quick question - does KFC mean the same there as it does hear in America (the fast food joing), or is it something else? Because if they're talking about fast food buildings . . . wow.
yes we are
we have lots of US based fast food chains out here
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AussieMark
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WindRunner
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Jim Hughes wrote:I do not follow tropical activity in this part of the world enough but I would like to point out that many of the things that I talked about last summer, in relation to enhanced Atlantic activity, have been occurring during the past 24-36 hours.
Jim
Just an interesting side note in relation to what Jim mentions there - the solar wind speed skyrocketed about 24 hours ago, which may have contributed to the strengthening of this system. Not saying it did or didn't, just interesting to note.
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DoctorHurricane2003
Yeah I remember listening to the radio about McDonald's bringing in food for them. Made me want some 
Yes hopefully this is the LAST time we have to go over this:
Cyclone Larry, at landfall, was a category 5 on the ATCI scale with wind gusts to 290 km/h (181 MPH). It was a category 4 on the Saffir-Simpson scale with maximum sustained wind speeds around 150-155 MPH.
This is probably going to be like Charley with an Ivan storm surge.
Yes hopefully this is the LAST time we have to go over this:
Cyclone Larry, at landfall, was a category 5 on the ATCI scale with wind gusts to 290 km/h (181 MPH). It was a category 4 on the Saffir-Simpson scale with maximum sustained wind speeds around 150-155 MPH.
This is probably going to be like Charley with an Ivan storm surge.
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P.K.
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Cyclone batters Australian coast
A powerful tropical cyclone has hit Australia's north-east coast, packing winds of up to 290km/h (180mph).
Tropical Cyclone Larry smashed into Queensland at Innisfail, about 100km (62 miles) south of Cairns.
The weather bureau upgraded the storm to a Category Five - the strongest possible - and thousands of residents have been evacuated.
"We are very concerned... it's the worst cyclone we've had in decades," said Queensland Premier Peter Beattie.
He has given the authorities the legal power to forcibly remove any reluctant evacuees.
Major airlines cancelled all flights into the city of Cairns and shelters for evacuees were set up in inland towns.
Devastating
Rescue officials compared the potential force of Cyclone Larry to Hurricane Katrina, which ravaged US Gulf states last year, killing more than 1,300 people.
"This is the most devastating cyclone that we could potentially see on the east coast of Queensland for decades," the state's Counter Disaster and Rescue Services chief Frank Pagano said.
He warned residents to stay away from areas likely to become flooded, saying water often posed a much higher danger than gale-force winds during cyclones.
In December 1974, Category Four Cyclone Tracy hit the northern Australian city of Darwin, killing 49 people and another 16 at sea.
Some 70% of Darwin's homes were destroyed or severely damaged.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/asia-pacific/4823580.stm
A powerful tropical cyclone has hit Australia's north-east coast, packing winds of up to 290km/h (180mph).
Tropical Cyclone Larry smashed into Queensland at Innisfail, about 100km (62 miles) south of Cairns.
The weather bureau upgraded the storm to a Category Five - the strongest possible - and thousands of residents have been evacuated.
"We are very concerned... it's the worst cyclone we've had in decades," said Queensland Premier Peter Beattie.
He has given the authorities the legal power to forcibly remove any reluctant evacuees.
Major airlines cancelled all flights into the city of Cairns and shelters for evacuees were set up in inland towns.
Devastating
Rescue officials compared the potential force of Cyclone Larry to Hurricane Katrina, which ravaged US Gulf states last year, killing more than 1,300 people.
"This is the most devastating cyclone that we could potentially see on the east coast of Queensland for decades," the state's Counter Disaster and Rescue Services chief Frank Pagano said.
He warned residents to stay away from areas likely to become flooded, saying water often posed a much higher danger than gale-force winds during cyclones.
In December 1974, Category Four Cyclone Tracy hit the northern Australian city of Darwin, killing 49 people and another 16 at sea.
Some 70% of Darwin's homes were destroyed or severely damaged.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/asia-pacific/4823580.stm
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AussieMark
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Cyclone casualties in Cairns
DESTRUCTIVE Cyclone Larry had caused some casualties in Cairns and there were reports of people missing, the weather bureau said today.
Cyclone Larry hit the far north Queensland coast this morning as a maximum category five storm, but has since been downgraded to a category four.
However, forecasters warn the region has probably not yet seen the strongest winds.
The town of Innisfail, south of Cairns, has been hit hard, with wind gusts of up to 290km/h tearing roofs of homes. Cairns has also suffered significant property damage.
"We have reports of fairly major structural damage around Innisfail area, one from Silkwood which is to the south of Innisfail, and we've had reports of some casualties at Cairns hospital, some 20 or so," weather bureau forecaster Jonty Hall said.
"There's also some reports of a few people missing as well."
Mr Hall said the eye of the cyclone was now 25km west of Innisfail.
It was moving quickly, but would remain in the Innisfail area for an hour.
A Queensland Ambulance Service spokeswoman said she could not confirm reports of people being taken to hospital.
"We are just putting all our contingencies in place," she said.
"We are making sure people are calm and talking to them on the phones through out communications centres.
"But at the moment everybody is just knuckling down and waiting for it to pass."
Mr Hall said the conditions were "terrible" but the worst was yet to come.
"We estimate the worst conditions will be from Innisfail down towards the Mission Beach area on the southern side on the track of that cyclone," he said.
"But also in Cairns, just because of the mountainous range up through there, they'll get some very gusty winds from the west as we go through this morning.
"They probably haven't seen the strongest winds there yet despite the fact that the cyclone's over land, so they've still got their worst to come."
Mr Hall said the cyclone would degrade to a low by tomorrow.
"It's starting to weaken already ... so in about 12 hours' time, it's likely to be a category two," he said
DESTRUCTIVE Cyclone Larry had caused some casualties in Cairns and there were reports of people missing, the weather bureau said today.
Cyclone Larry hit the far north Queensland coast this morning as a maximum category five storm, but has since been downgraded to a category four.
However, forecasters warn the region has probably not yet seen the strongest winds.
The town of Innisfail, south of Cairns, has been hit hard, with wind gusts of up to 290km/h tearing roofs of homes. Cairns has also suffered significant property damage.
"We have reports of fairly major structural damage around Innisfail area, one from Silkwood which is to the south of Innisfail, and we've had reports of some casualties at Cairns hospital, some 20 or so," weather bureau forecaster Jonty Hall said.
"There's also some reports of a few people missing as well."
Mr Hall said the eye of the cyclone was now 25km west of Innisfail.
It was moving quickly, but would remain in the Innisfail area for an hour.
A Queensland Ambulance Service spokeswoman said she could not confirm reports of people being taken to hospital.
"We are just putting all our contingencies in place," she said.
"We are making sure people are calm and talking to them on the phones through out communications centres.
"But at the moment everybody is just knuckling down and waiting for it to pass."
Mr Hall said the conditions were "terrible" but the worst was yet to come.
"We estimate the worst conditions will be from Innisfail down towards the Mission Beach area on the southern side on the track of that cyclone," he said.
"But also in Cairns, just because of the mountainous range up through there, they'll get some very gusty winds from the west as we go through this morning.
"They probably haven't seen the strongest winds there yet despite the fact that the cyclone's over land, so they've still got their worst to come."
Mr Hall said the cyclone would degrade to a low by tomorrow.
"It's starting to weaken already ... so in about 12 hours' time, it's likely to be a category two," he said
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wxmann_91
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In some ironic way, every time they say "it's bad" it turns out everything is not as bad as thought, but when they say nothing, it's usually worse than expected, sometimes, complete catastrophe.
Let's hope the first case is correct this time. But attm, it's not looking good. However one good thing is that it was weakening at landfall so it looks like it peak around 145 mph, then weakened to Cat 3/4 equivalent strength as it ingested dry continental air from the mainland.
Let's hope the first case is correct this time. But attm, it's not looking good. However one good thing is that it was weakening at landfall so it looks like it peak around 145 mph, then weakened to Cat 3/4 equivalent strength as it ingested dry continental air from the mainland.
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DoctorHurricane2003
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108kts sustained at landfall it looks like.
Latest Coastal Weather Observations for Innisfail
Issued at 9:40 am EST Monday 20 March 2006
About coastal observations | Map of coastal stations | Coastal observations for QLD | Marine services
Data from the previous 72 hours.
Date/Time
EST Temp
°C Wind Pressure Rain
since 9am
mm Weather Cloud Vis
km Sea Swell
Dir Speed
knots Gust
knots hPa Trend Height
m Height
m Length
m Dir
20/09:00 25.9 NNE 108 - - - - Rain Cloudy 3 - - - -
20/06:00 24.5 SSW 57 - - - - Rain Cloudy 0.1 - - - -
http://www.bom.gov.au/products/IDQ60701/IDQ60701.94291.shtml
Latest Coastal Weather Observations for Innisfail
Issued at 9:40 am EST Monday 20 March 2006
About coastal observations | Map of coastal stations | Coastal observations for QLD | Marine services
Data from the previous 72 hours.
Date/Time
EST Temp
°C Wind Pressure Rain
since 9am
mm Weather Cloud Vis
km Sea Swell
Dir Speed
knots Gust
knots hPa Trend Height
m Height
m Length
m Dir
20/09:00 25.9 NNE 108 - - - - Rain Cloudy 3 - - - -
20/06:00 24.5 SSW 57 - - - - Rain Cloudy 0.1 - - - -
http://www.bom.gov.au/products/IDQ60701/IDQ60701.94291.shtml
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HurricaneHunter914
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AussieMark
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