Evacuations begin ahead of cyclone Yasi

Evacuations begin ahead of cyclone Yasi

bigpondnews.com

Evacuations will begin today in Queensland as a severe cyclone is expected to strike the flood ravaged state.

Authorities are preparing as far north as Cooktown and as far south as Maryborough, with nursing homes in the danger zone and Whitsunday's Hamilton Island already evacuating.

(visit the link for the full news article)


Related News Links:
www.news.com.au
www.bom.gov.au
www.bom.gov.au

More severe waeter has been forecasted for many parts of QLD, Australia. Less than 1 month after severe flooding affected over 75% of QLD they are now faced with a severe Tropical Cyclone which could bring with it windspeeds of upto 250km/h (120mph).

Interactive Cyclone Tacking Tool ( MTSAT )

Buruea of Meterology Australia
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[atsimg]http://files.abovetopsecret.com/images/member/65d082bfe1d7.gif[/atsimg]

IDQP0005
Australian Government Bureau of Meteorology
Queensland
Tropical Cyclone Warning Centre

Media: The Standard Emergency Warning Signal should NOT be used with this
warning.

TOP PRIORITY
TROPICAL CYCLONE ADVICE NUMBER 4
Issued by the Bureau of Meteorology, Brisbane
Issued at 6:19am EST on Tuesday the 1st of February 2011

** CORRECTED**
A Cyclone WATCH is current for coastal and island communities from Cooktown to
Yeppoon, and adjacent inland areas.

A Cyclone WATCH has been declared for coastal and island communities from Cape
Melville to Cooktown, and adjacent inland areas east of Richmond.

At 4:00 am EST Severe Tropical Cyclone Yasi, Category 3 was estimated to be
1390 kilometres east northeast of Townsville and 1290 kilometres northeast of
Mackay moving west at 40 kilometres per hour.

The cyclone is expected to continue intensifying as it moves west over the Coral
Sea.

Source / Further Information

I hope the cyclone loses intencity before it makes landfall tomorrow, my thoughts will be with all the people that are the area's at risk.

Here is some forecast information i left out of the OP. Be carefull and stay safe, make sure you check on neighbours and friends.
Many people are still displaced from floods last month and this is the last thing anyone needs.

Very strange weather this year so far...El Nina or something more??


Forecasted information from BOM Australia:

Damaging winds are expected to develop about coastal and island communities between Cape Melville and Yeppoon Wednesday morning, extending to adjacent inland parts east of Richmond on Wednesday afternoon.

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People between Cape Melville and Yeppoon, and adjacent inland parts east of Richmond should consider what action they will need to take if the cyclone threat increases.
- Information is available from your local government
- For cyclone preparedness and safety advice, visit Queensland's Disaster Management Services website (www.disaster.qld.gov.au)

Source

reply to post by Havick007


I heard the news last night..
They said it may intensify before hitting land and be one of the worst to ever hit Queensland..

As if they haven't already been through enough.!!!

reply to post by backinblack


I know, it's actually sad. I feel really sorry for all of them. My cousin is living up there, near where the cyclone is forecast to hit and it's all still a mess from the floods.

Yeah i think's it's a cat 3 now but due to move to a cat 4 and hopefully may drop back to a 3 again before it hits the coast.... we can only hope.

even though we have this cyclone heading towards us, we where not effected by the flooding this far north except for no groceries or produce where able to get through due to the flooding south of us,
thanks for everyones concern as this is a big cyclone
wind gust up to 136mph and intensifying, if it does hit us, there is a good chance of no posts from those effected for a week or so due to the amount of power outages there will be, it is not uncommon to go 3 weeks without power being connected after a big cyclone.

and looking at the map, I am going to be right in the middle of the cyclone path so it may take even longer unless I can get a generator before then

reply to post by munkey66


Good luck and stay safe

Just when you thought things were bad.
The best tip I can give is to evacuate if they truly want you to.
Play smart and stay safe!

reply to post by prolific


Yeah better safe than sorry. We saw this with the flooding last month, some people chose to stay at their house / property and were then stranded.

The same happened in 2009 with ferocious bushfires that hit parts of Victoria, Aus. People chose to stay at their homes but the fires were so intence..... the worst ever seen and they became victims

best thing for us to do is just stay indoors in a secure part of the house, no good trying to run to the hills for this one as it is some 500klm wide and as we know up here, cyclones have a mind of their own and can do anything from right hand turns to completely fizzing out before they hit the coast.

it's just a part of life in north Queensland, I have been watching people panic buying all last night and this morning which tells me that many of these people have never really experienced a cyclone, most of us who have experienced them have already stocked up on dry and canned foods, batteries and candles etc.....
the worst bit is actually trying to find places to put things away from outside, no good tying the kids bikes to the back fence as fences are some of the first things to go.
If it does hit up this way I will try and get some pics and post them, my concern is the small tidal creek behing our house will be at high tide around the time the cyclone is meant to hit.

all I can do now is sit back and watch everyone else panic and stress

And here we are again Havick, another disaster thread.

reply to post by munkey66


I have family right in the firing line as well. They will be evacuating shortly.
Stay safe munkey66.
I'll be keeping a close eye on this.

reply to post by Netties Hermit


I know it sux that the only news is bad news half the time.... especially QLD, they need a break.

BOM Update as of 11:10EST 01/02/2011

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SEVERE TROPICAL CYCLONE YASI, CATEGORY 3, with gusts up to 220 km/h is currently moving in a westerly direction at 35km/hr but is expected to turn on a more west-southwesterly direction in the next 12 hours.

DAMAGING winds with gusts to 100km/hr are expected to develop on the islands during Wednesday morning and extend onto the coast during the day and extend inland across southern Cape York Peninsula and north of Charters Towers overnight Wednesday.

More Information


IDQP0005
Australian Government Bureau of Meteorology
Queensland
Tropical Cyclone Warning Centre

Media: The Standard Emergency Warning Signal should NOT be used with this
warning.

TOP PRIORITY
TROPICAL CYCLONE ADVICE NUMBER 5
Issued by the Bureau of Meteorology, Brisbane
Issued at 11:09am EST on Tuesday the 1st of February 2011

A Cyclone WARNING has been declared for coastal areas from Cooktown to Sarina.

A Cyclone WATCH has been declared for coastal areas from Lockhart River to
Cooktown and Sarina to Yeppoon and for southern Cape York Peninsula and inland
areas north of Charters Towers.

At 10:00 am EST Severe Tropical Cyclone Yasi, Category 3 was estimated to be
1220 kilometres east northeast of Cairns and 1200 kilometres east northeast of
Townsville
moving west at 35 kilometres per hour.

The cyclone is expected to continue intensifying as it moves west over the Coral
Sea.

Full Bulletin

I just wanted to an image courtesy of NASA, it shows how big the cyclone is... i would to hate to be out at sea stuck in the middle of that storm

[atsimg]http://files.abovetopsecret.com/images/member/4602ad29bc46.jpg[/atsimg]
Full Image Source / Full Resolution

A pre-emptive disaster declaration was signed this morning to allow for mandatory evacuation powers if needed.

www.optuszoo.com.au...

best to just get well away from the area's in question. since some of these cities in the line of fire do not even have evacuation safe buildings such as cyclone bunkers or places that can withstand catorgory 5 events of this magnitude. public housing won't be any safer to be inside either.

They are saying this is going to be one the biggest ever to hit.
It's something like 500km in diameter, and the eye is around 100km.
They area also expecting at least 1000mm of rain.

Queensland really doesn't need that much more rain right now.

Winds up to 280km/h.
They are expecting a huge storm surge for low lying areas.
All the resorts have been evacuated, Whitsundays etc.
They are expecting this to be worse then Cyclone Larry. Larry was a mid level cat.4, this one is a high level cat 4.


Check out the latest satellite image from the BOM, to get an idea just how big this cyclone is.





And here's a time lapse video showing the cylone form over the Pacific.

reply to post by BLV12


Thanks, nice image

Yeah thats crazy, i heard that on the news this morning as well. Although on the midday update i heard them saying that it will be bigger than Cyclone Larry in 2006 but ihavent heard them say the biggest ever as yet.. although every channel and outlet sez different things, but looking at that Sat image...it's huge!!

Also at the moment it's passing over smaller islands which as far as i know are inhabited, i havent heard anything about them as yet....

Yeah looking at the time lapse clip, it's only getting bigger. The problem is the sea surface temps are above 27'c which will cause it to get stronger before it hits the coast.. If it drops below 27'c it should lose some of it's power.

reply to post by BLV12


Hers's another satellite tracking tool for the cyclone:

www.goes.noaa.gov...

Also a couple of images courtesy of MTSAT:

Water Vapour:

[atsimg]http://files.abovetopsecret.com/images/member/c44bce326373.jpg[/atsimg]

IR:

[atsimg]http://files.abovetopsecret.com/images/member/9892ddf09307.jpg[/atsimg]

LSR:

[atsimg]http://files.abovetopsecret.com/images/member/4f9fe373f4e6.jpg[/atsimg]


Hopefully it detencifies before hitting the coast.....

Well I don't know if it'll be the biggest, but it's certainly one of the largest ever.
Apparently experience weather watchers are stunned at just how big and powerful this one is.

Here's an infra red image.



Check out this local site too. Has an infra red satellite loop of the cyclones approach. Don't know if it's live or not.
www.cairns.com.au...

And some more live coverage here
www.news.com.au... 623

Another image showing it's size..

And I've just heard that they are predicting a third system to form into a cyclone to in about two weeks time, for the same region. The same modeling system used to predict Yasi.

That will be the fourth cyclone if it eventuates. The one over WA, Anthony, Yasi, and this third one for Queensland.

They are actually pulling down cranes and everything as well.
People are actually panicked. I don't know if it's the effect of the recent floods taking their toll, or if it's the fact this is going to be a massive storm, or a combination of both.

6m storm surges are predicted for areas where it crosses onto land.
Apparently they are predicting a direct hit on Cairns? And they are saying it's going to be as strong as Cyclone Tracy which wiped out Darwin in 74, if not probably stronger. Holy f**k!

I was informed a little while ago by my wife that there was a reported crocodile sighting at a local swimming hole (3 meter croc "9 foot 10 inch's").
a study in Darwin reports that crocodiles head up river prior to a big storm, and if this sighting is legitimate, its going to be a huge storm as there are normally no crocodiles swimming in this lake because of the rocks they would need to get over in order to get there.

if you have google earth and want to see how far inland this is ,type lake placid qld