Australia cyclone 'like atom bomb'

[Kaymara]

http://www.cnn.com/2006/WORLD/asiapc...rry/index.html
Power outages, injuries reported along northeast coast

Monday, March 20, 2006; Posted: 7:29 a.m. EST (12:29 GMT)
SYDNEY, Australia -- The worst storm to hit Australia in decades has wreaked havoc to its northeastern coast, mowing down sugar and banana crops and leaving thousands of people homeless.

But despite leaving possibly thousands of people homeless there were no reports on Monday of serious injuries, reflecting the preparedness of residents in the storm-prone region.

About 30 people were treated at hospitals for minor injuries, Ben Creagh, a spokesman for Queensland state Department of Emergency Services, told The Associated Press. Many people had left their homes to shelter in evacuation centers ahead of the storm.

In Innisfail, a farming town of 8,500 that was hardest hit, Mayor Neil Clarke said he believed thousands were left homeless.

He said the airport was being cleared to house people in tents. More than 100,000 people were without power, authorities said.

"It looks like an atomic bomb hit the place," he told the Australian Broadcasting Corp.

The storm was so bad at its height overnight that police could not venture out and help terrified residents who called to say the winds had destroyed their homes. As emergency services spread across the region later to assess the damage, they encountered scenes of devastation.

"The damage to dwellings is very extensive," Prime Minister John Howard told the Nine Network from Melbourne. "Thank heavens it does not appear as though there have been any very serious injuries."

At noon Monday, (0100 GMT), the Australian Bureau of Meteorology reported the storm was a category three cyclone with top winds of 180 kph (110 mph).

It was centered about 100 kilometers west of Innisfail, in the Australian state of Queensland. Larry was moving to the west at 25-30 kph. Despite the weakening, Larry still packed gusts of up to 220 kph, forecasters reported.

Earlier Monday, the cyclone hit Australia as a category five storm -- the strongest rating possible. The eye hit Innisfail with gusts up to 290 kph at about 7:30 a.m. (2030 Sunday GMT), according to Australia's Bureau of Meteorology.

Top sustained winds at landfall were at 190 kph, but gusts up to 300 kph were reported, Craig Burke, a forecaster at the airport in Cairns, about 90 km north of Innisfail. (Watch the power of the winds -- 1:02)

"The reports that we've been receiving through the morning have been quite devastating, actually, with lots of roof and structural damage throughout the community," Burke said.

Mandatory evacuation orders were issued ahead of the storm, and most residents moved to safety "well in advance," said Katheryn Ryan, a spokesperson for Queensland's State Emergency Services office.

Emergency crews reached the area late Monday morning and began assessing the damage, Ryan said.

The storm also devastated the region's multimillion-dollar banana and sugar farming industry, a local official told The Associated Press.

Deputy Mayor George Pervan of Johnstone Shire Council said the cyclone ruined sugar cane and banana crops, AP reports.

"The crops are all gone, bananas are all flattened, cane's flattened. It'll kill us for 12 or 18 months," Pervan said.

PM Howard told reporters he had been in touch with state leaders and promised "any help that is needed from the federal level."

"They may need helicopters, for example," he said. "They may need water-purification equipment, depending on the extent of the damage."

Innisfail, a beach town of about 8,000, is a popular departure point for boaters and divers seeking to explore the Great Barrier Reef.

The sounds of metal and lumber being torn from structures could be heard above the winds as the cyclone passed, journalist Phil Willmington told CNN.

"There's just devastation everywhere in this coastal community," he said.

A motel proprietor told Australia's Sky News TV that residents of Innisfail ventured out as the calm of the eye of the storm passed over the town.

She said the town looked as if a bomb had hit it with trees uprooted and tin and roofing material scattered everywhere.

Townsfolk then retreated back indoors as the winds and rains returned.

The storm struck land near low tide at Innisfail, resulting in a storm surge of just 20 centimeters (8 inches), Burke said. But he said communities to the south could face higher tidal surges as the storm nears, perhaps as high as 4 meters (13 feet).

The swath of destructive winds stretched from the coastal towns of Ingham, to the south of Innisfail, and Port Douglas, to the north, the Meteorology Bureau reported.

National flag carrier Qantas canceled a scheduled morning flight to Cairns and another to Townsville -- the two largest cities in the cyclone's path, AP reported. Cairns has a population of 125,000 while Townsville is home to 160,000 people.

Queensland state Premier Peter Beattie declared a disaster situation, giving local governments the power to enforce mandatory evacuations.

Beattie said Larry was the worst storm to hit northeastern Australia in recent memory.

Snakes and crocodiles
"We are very concerned about it, it's the worst cyclone we've had in decades," Beattie told the Nine television network Monday.

Up to 50,000 homes in the region were without power, and were expected to remain without electricity for several days, Gaylene Whenmouth, a spokeswoman for Ergon Energy Cairns, told AP.

"It is still too windy to send crews out to do restoration, but we will be doing that as soon as we can, whenever it is safe to do so," Whenmouth said.

State Disaster Coordination Center spokesman Peter Rekers said thousands of volunteers were on standby to help with the cleanup, and warned residents to be on their guard for deadly animals stirred up by the storm, AP reports.

"Keep your kids away from flooded drains, be aware of snakes and crocodiles," he said. "Those guys will have had a bad night too."

Larry is the third cyclone to hit Australia's east coast this year and the eighth in waters near Australia during this season, which ends April 30.

It appeared to be the biggest storm ever to hit the country's Pacific coast, which generally sees fewer cyclones than the northern and western coasts.

The worst Australian storm on record was Cyclone Tracy, which killed 65 people in the northern city of Darwin in 1974.