Beuen
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First cyclone hits Queensland, but the big one is still building
Tom Reilly
January 31, 2011
THE upper reaches of Queensland's central coast were hit by a cyclone last night which battered some areas with winds of up to 140km/h.
The category two cyclone, named Anthony, made landfall near Bowen, 120 kilometres south-east of Townsville, at about 11pm and brought torrential rain to the state.
Rivers and streams stretching over more than 400 kilometres were on flood warning and areas between Bowen and Mackay were hit with more than 14 centimetres of rain yesterday. About 50 millimetres fell in the hour before 10.30pm.
It was unclear last night how much damage Anthony may have caused, but there may be worse to come: forecasters are predicting that a second, more powerful cyclone, called Yasi, will hit the state on Thursday.
The Queensland Premier, Anna Bligh, admitted it "would be easy to think somebody up there has got a grudge against us," as she warned Queenslanders yesterday to prepare for the powerful weather systems.
Ms Bligh described the two weather systems as "David and Goliath". Anthony was expected to be "quite smaller than the second event" which could cause winds well in excess of 200km/h.
"All disaster groups in the vicinity are on full alert and evacuation centres are ready and able to take people [after] the event, should they be needing shelter out of their own homes," Ms Blight said.
She also sought to reassure people that emergency workers, some of whom have been battling floods since November, would be ready to deal with the aftermath of the cyclones.
"They have had ample opportunity to replenish themselves and restore supplies. We are not battle weary, we are battle ready," Ms Bligh said.
The Bureau of Meteorology's Queensland regional director, Jim Davidson, said it was unusual to get an accurate forecast on Yasi so far in advance, but all of the modelling predicted a large "disturbance."
http://www.smh.com.au/environment/w...big-one-is-still-building-20110130-1a9pw.html
Tom Reilly
January 31, 2011
THE upper reaches of Queensland's central coast were hit by a cyclone last night which battered some areas with winds of up to 140km/h.
The category two cyclone, named Anthony, made landfall near Bowen, 120 kilometres south-east of Townsville, at about 11pm and brought torrential rain to the state.
Rivers and streams stretching over more than 400 kilometres were on flood warning and areas between Bowen and Mackay were hit with more than 14 centimetres of rain yesterday. About 50 millimetres fell in the hour before 10.30pm.
It was unclear last night how much damage Anthony may have caused, but there may be worse to come: forecasters are predicting that a second, more powerful cyclone, called Yasi, will hit the state on Thursday.
The Queensland Premier, Anna Bligh, admitted it "would be easy to think somebody up there has got a grudge against us," as she warned Queenslanders yesterday to prepare for the powerful weather systems.
Ms Bligh described the two weather systems as "David and Goliath". Anthony was expected to be "quite smaller than the second event" which could cause winds well in excess of 200km/h.
"All disaster groups in the vicinity are on full alert and evacuation centres are ready and able to take people [after] the event, should they be needing shelter out of their own homes," Ms Blight said.
She also sought to reassure people that emergency workers, some of whom have been battling floods since November, would be ready to deal with the aftermath of the cyclones.
"They have had ample opportunity to replenish themselves and restore supplies. We are not battle weary, we are battle ready," Ms Bligh said.
The Bureau of Meteorology's Queensland regional director, Jim Davidson, said it was unusual to get an accurate forecast on Yasi so far in advance, but all of the modelling predicted a large "disturbance."
http://www.smh.com.au/environment/w...big-one-is-still-building-20110130-1a9pw.html
