Emergency crews beaten back as cyclone lashes Australian coast
A massive cyclone tore off roofs and uprooted trees across Australia’s north-eastern coast today, packing winds so powerful that emergency workers were forced to stay indoors, despite pleas from terrified residents.
Hundreds of tourists and thousands of residents were bunkered inside resort hotels and homes as Tropical Cyclone Larry smashed into the coast about 60 miles south of Cairns with winds of up 180mph and pounding rain.
Power was cut to up to 50,000 homes, and prime minister John Howard said he was ready to deploy troops to the region to help the mopping-up effort.
Worst hit was Innisfail, a town of about 8,500 people that attracts hundreds of foreigners who take seasonal work in the area’s banana and sugar plantations. The cyclone tore the town apart, state emergency service local controller Alan Green said.
“We went for a drive this morning and I’d say every second building is damaged – some completely, some minor,” Green said. “Some have all their roofs gone, some have walls gone, awnings are gone out the front.”
About a dozen people were treated at hospitals for minor cuts and bruises, but no serious injuries had been reported, said Jim Guthrie, a spokesman for Queensland state’s health department.
He said the tropical region’s previous experience with cyclones had left people well prepared.
“This is far north Queensland and most people live with cyclones year in, year out. They do take precautions,” he said. “We’ve come out of it extremely well.”
Cairns is a popular jumping-off point for the Great Barrier Reef, the world’s largest coral system and a Mecca for divers.
A spokeswoman for the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority said it was too early to assess possible damage to the reef system, which is visited by hundreds of thousands of tourists each year.
“At the moment it’s too difficult for emergency services to get out, let alone us,” the spokeswoman said on condition of anonymity because she is not a reef expert.
The cyclone was rated as a category five – the strongest – but downgraded by the Bureau of Meteorology today to category three after crossing the coast and weakening somewhat. Cyclones lose force over land.
The storm was so bad that at its height overnight police were unable to venture out and help terrified residents who called to say the gale-force winds had ripped the roofs off buildings and destroyed their homes, police said.
“There’s nothing we can do for them,” a police spokeswoman said, citing agency policy. “We just told them to wrap themselves in mattresses, blankets, whatever they can find, and just stay put.”
Des Hensler, an Innisfail resident, sheltered alone in a church, up to his ankles in water.
“I don’t get scared much, but this is something to make any man tremble in his boots,” he told the Seven television network. “There’s a grey sheet of water, horizontal to the ground, and just taking everything in its path.”
Queensland premier Peter Beattie declared a state of emergency.
“It’s the worst cyclone we’ve had in decades,” Beattie told the Nine network.
Howard said he was confident the cyclone would not result in the chaos seen in New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina.
“If any military assets are needed, they will be made available,” he said.
Gaylene Whenmouth, a spokeswoman for power supplier Ergon Energy Cairns, said as many as 50,000 homes were without electricity and the cuts were likely to remain for several days.
“It is still too windy to send crews out to do restoration, but we will be doing that as soon as we can,” Whenmouth said.
State disaster co-ordination centre spokesman Peter Rekers said thousands of rescue volunteers were on standby and warned residents to stay on their guard for deadly animals stirred up by the storm.
“Most of the casualties and deaths resulting from cyclones happen after the storm has passed,” he warned. “Keep your kids away from flooded drains, be aware of snakes and crocodiles. Those guys will have had a bad night too.”
