Cyclone hits northeast coast of Australia (photos)
A satellite image obtained from the U.S. Naval Research Laboratory shows Cyclone Yasi approaching the coast of Australia. (Reuters)
Less than a month after floods and mudslides hit Australia, a cyclone is bearing down on the coast near the northeastern city of Cairns. Cyclone Yasi is expected to be more powerful than any storm in the region since 1918. More than 10,000 people have evacuated the area, and authorities are preparing for devastation, and likely deaths.
Jade Spiteri listens to weather updates on the radio at an emergency evacuation center. (Torsten Blackwood/AFP-Getty Images)
Resident Selwyn Hughes, center, sits with his daughter Roseanne, 13, outside an emergency cyclone shelter after it was declared full and the gate locked in the northern Australian city of Cairns. (Tim Wimborne/Reuters)
Taped-up windows in preparation for Cyclone Yasi. (Tim Wimborn/Reuters)
A satellite shot of Cyclone Yasi. (NASA)
People pack the emergency evacuation center at Earlville Shopping Centre. (Paul Crock/AFP-Getty Images)
By
Melissa Bell
| February 2, 2011; 2:55 PM ET
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All the online videos of Yasi are on the following hub:
http://cyclone.videohq.tv
Australia would probably be best advised to look at its own greenhouse gas emissions.
Posted by: xeus333 | February 2, 2011 3:32 PM | Report abuse
This as a big frickin cyclone.
More on the US blizzards and the Cyclone Yasi, and a look at the weird weather around the world:
http://thealteredpress.com/2011/02/02/breaking-news-mother-nature-tries-to-kill-us-some-more/
Posted by: TheAP | February 2, 2011 3:48 PM | Report abuse
Amazing gallery of the destruction in Queensland following Cyclone Yasi:
http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/news/gallery/gallery-e6frewxi-1225999244037
Posted by: dunningc | February 2, 2011 10:17 PM | Report abuse
No doubt many comparisons between Yasi and Hurricane Katrina will be made but there are huge differences. As a tourist stuck in the Superdome it's important to me that these distinctions be made.
Australians had more time to evacuate than New Orleanians and Gulf Coast residents. Authorities shut down the New Orleans Airport, Amtrak, and Greyhound PRIOR to the evacuation. Many of us were stranded. IN contrast, Australia added extra flights out during the evacuation.
Katrina hit landfall along the Miss. Gulf Coast as a category 3 storm. It devastated that area, however most of the deaths in New Orleans were caused by the failed Army Corps of Engineers' levees, and of course we all are aware of the poor response by FEMA, etc.
My heart goes out to those in Oz and those still rebuilding in Louisiana and Mississippi.
Paul Harris
Author, "Diary From the Dome, Reflections on Fear and Privilege During Katrina"
Posted by: patriotpaul | February 3, 2011 4:29 AM | Report abuse
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