Yasi is a huge, dangerous cyclone

[Dengue]

Hell, Yasi is the biggest cyclone the meterologists have ever seen to hit Queensland. It is huge, moving fast towards us, and is very powerful, expected to reach Category 4 (out of 5) by Wed pm. There is a cyclone watch that covers 1400 km, 700km either side of Townsville. We have been told to finish our preparations by this afternoon, as on Wednesday the winds and rain will be too strong.

Have a look at the links below to get some idea of the size of this thing. Cairns is 400 km north of us, and Yasi is heading that way ( God help them), but we are still in the destructive winds zone in excess of 125km/hr here in Townsville - that is incredible!!

The State Emergency Services are sending automatic SMS messages and phone calls to everyone in the risk area, that's how serious it is, and for those on the low lying coastal areas, they are advising evacuation now because of the huge tidal surges expected.

The shops are sold out, and people up here are taking this one really seriously.

This link is still the best way to see it, as it gives some indication of the size:

MTSAT Infrared Colorized Image Loop - Satellite Services Division - Office of Satellite Data Processing and Distribution (http://www.goes.noaa.gov/sohemi/sohemiloops/shirgmscol.html)

Tropical Cyclone Threat Map Page (1) (http://www.bom.gov.au/products/IDQ65002.shtml)

Tropical Cyclone Advice for System 1 (http://www.bom.gov.au/cgi-bin/wrap_fwo.pl?IDQP0005.txt)

[Claw Hama]

Best of luck to everyone up that way, play it safe and stay alive. Good time to come south and visit fellow forumites.

[tea lady]

:c

[Cliff Rogers]

G’day all.

We are preparing for a big cyclone.

We were going to be going on Holidays on Friday but it looks like we will be at home cleaning up.

Today we are at home securing our property.

Wednesday & Thursday this week we will be battened down, Friday Saturday & Sunday will be clean up.

Will play it by ear after the cyclone as to when I will be able to go on holidays.

We may be without power, phones & internet for a while too.

Here are a few pictures to look at.

We live just west on Innisfail up in the mountains about 865M above sea level.

MTSAT Infrared Colorized Image Loop - Satellite Services Division - Office of Satellite Data Processing and Distribution (http://www.goes.noaa.gov/sohemi/sohemiloops/shirgmscol.html)

Tropical Cyclone Threat Map Page (1) (http://www.bom.gov.au/products/IDQ65002.shtml)

[Mulgabill]

Good luck to everyone in FNQ. Please say safe!!!

[A Duke]

Just imagine the saw dust a cyclone that size could sort out.
All jokes aside the best of luck and stay safe all of you.
My thoughts are with you

[Dengue]

It is literally dead calm and very humid here in Townsville NQ. Now I know what they mean by "the calm before the storm". The barometer hasn't started dropping yet.

I think tomorrow morning it will start raining and blowing, so everyone is being told to finish their preparations today (Tuesday)

I would not like to be living in FNQ. Have had several emails from friends and former colleagues in Cairns, all along the lines of:

We have been battening down since Anthony but it was a minnow compared to Yasi

Looks like we may be in for a ride.

I'm not looking forward to this one !!

[gidgee 1]

good luck to all in nth qld.Stay safe.
cheers gidgee1

[Dengue]

Wednesday & Thursday this week we will be battened down, Friday Saturday & Sunday will be clean up.


Cliff, Yasi is due to hit your area at 4am Thurs, if not sooner, so I would not be leaving it until Thurs to batten down.

Good luck

[chrisb691]

To all in FNQ, my thoughts are with you. Please stay safe.

[Groggy]

Better tie yourself to a rock Cliff. Good luck with it mate.

[derekh]

Stay safe Cliff and Jill, my SIL in Mackay is getting warning and evacuation SMS messages and thats miles from the expected epicentre. So, yep it's going to be a rough ride. All the best.

[Dengue]

derekh, it will hit Cairns as a category 4, but it is so large that it will hit Mackay as a Category 2- and that is 800km south of Cairns. I would definitely not like to be living in FNQ right now

[Spanner69]

looks like Townsville will be spared the worst of it but it is apprently still going to be cat 2 cyclonic winds for us here.

[AlexS]

Stay safe, all.

[underfoot]

Holey moley :oo:...I've never seen that black colour (the eye) on bom radar before..
good luck folks in FNQ..

[Cliff Rogers]

Holey moley :oo:...I've never seen that black colour (the eye) on bom radar before..
good luck folks in FNQ..
Good isn't it..... how far do ya reckon I'll get on a Para-sail? :think:

[mic-d]

good luck up there!

Cheers
Michael

[m2c1Iw]

Good isn't it..... how far do ya reckon I'll get on a Para-sail? :think:

About Alice I reckon. Keep your head down Cliff and let's hope you can tell us what you missed on Friday. :2tsup:

Seriously be careful.

[Cliff Rogers]

...
Today we are at home securing our property.

Wednesday & Thursday this week we will be battened down, Friday Saturday & Sunday will be clean up.



Cliff, Yasi is due to hit your area at 4am Thurs, if not sooner, so I would not be leaving it until Thurs to batten down.

Good luck

I said that we were getting ready today, Wednesday & Thursday we will be battened down..... notice the 'ed' on the end.....

Rooted now... bring it on, we are as ready as we will ever be. :2tsup:

One car won't be under cover but tough, it is insured & it already has a cracked windscreen, a roo ding & a cow dig so it is due for a trip to the doctor.

Everything else is in a shed or under cover somewhere... well there is a Landrover still sitting out under a maple tree but I bet it lives & there is also a Ford 5000 tractor parked next to a container.... it'll be fine too. :rolleyes:

[Cliff Rogers]

.....

Seriously be careful.
As careful as you can be 4m up a tree with a 4m pole saw (extended chainsaw) cutting branches off the tree to reduce the sail area of projectiles near the house. :D

[m2c1Iw]

As careful as you can be 4m up a tree with a 4m pole saw (extended chainsaw) cutting branches off the tree to reduce the sail area of projectiles near the house. :D

:oo::DJust heard they have delayed the start of the WBF so the FNQ contingent can make it. :rolleyes:

[Cliff Rogers]

WBF? :?

World Boxing Federation.
World Badminton Federation
Worldwide Backgammon federation.
Women Building Futures.
World Bridge Federation.
World Bodybuilding Federation.


Hang on.... you were talking about the World Beer Festival. :2tsup:

[m2c1Iw]

WBF? :?

Hang on.... you were talking about the World Beer Festival. :2tsup:

Ya idgit :D

Whoa this thing is moving fast and is now already listed as cat 4 :(

[nihilism]

Best of luck to everyone in the area. Hope you all make it though ok.

We had a cat 3 heading down the coast late last week but by the time it got here it was downgraded to nothing.

[Dengue]

Yasi is now Category 5 severe tropical cyclone, and is life threatening. They don't come any bigger than Yasi

[Cliff Rogers]

Waiting waiting waiting..... going to cross very close to us.

Getting fairly windy now, patches of sun & a few showers of rain.

Waiting waiting waiting.....

[jimbur]

Good luck Cliff and everyone else up there.
Cheers,
Jim

[Dengue]

Meterology info on Yasi now limited because the BoM weather station on Willis Island, right in the path of the cyclone, was wiped out by Yasi

[Ironwood]

Wishing everyone up there, a safe passage through the storm.

My Mum and Dad, who were at Murphy's Creek during the worst of the floods, are back in Cardwell now, getting ready for Yasi.
I tried to talk them into packing up the car and heading south, but Dad is too stubborn and wont leave :(.
They are in the house that my Grandad built, and apparently "he built it strong enough":rolleyes:
I just hope that he did.

[Cliff Rogers]

Chimney howling, doors rattling but then, we get that in a Sou-easter in Winter anyway.

It is a bit like sitting in the waiting room at the dentists listening to the drill on the other side of the door.

We are about to have scones & coffee.

[Geoff Dean]

Waiting waiting waiting..... going to cross very close to us.

Getting fairly windy now, patches of sun & a few showers of rain.

Waiting waiting waiting.....

Don't wait too long Cliff, you might miss it. :D

Hang on, it's gunna be one hell of a ride.

[RufflyRustic]

Be safe, Cliff, Jill and everyone else up there:C

[artme]

Yasi sure is a monster!!


What ever else You lot do in FNQ, BE AS SAFE AS YOU CAN!!

Just hoping that no life will be lost.

All the best to you all!:2tsup:

[Cliff Rogers]

First burst of heavy wind & rain just hit... bit like it was in the middle of Tasha on Christmas day & this one is still 11 hours away from crossing.

I just came back from the shed, went to give the chooks some watermelon & grabbed a 40mm² pine batten & box of screws... I am going to screw several of our french doors shut, screw the batten to the door sill & screw through it into the door.

The burst of rain & wind hit as I was walking back, soaking wet now. :D

[Waldo]

The burst of rain & wind hit as I was walking back, soaking wet now. :D

Saves having a :bath: later on then. :2tsup:

[KevM]

Thinking of all our North Queensland members - stay safe!

[Cliff Rogers]

Thanks Kev, got your e-mail but we have had to postpone our holiday.

We changed our flights to Thursday 10th next week so we'll get to the wooden boat show but then most likely go to visit friends in Orford for a couple of days before we head back to Hobart.

May be able to wangle a visit later during the week.
Have you got any timber to look at? :D

[journeyman Mick]

First burst of heavy wind & rain just hit... bit like it was in the middle of Tasha on Christmas day & this one is still 11 hours away from crossing.

I just came back from the shed, went to give the chooks some watermelon & grabbed a 40mm² pine batten & box of screws... I am going to screw several of our french doors shut, screw the batten to the door sill & screw through it into the door.

The burst of rain & wind hit as I was walking back, soaking wet now. :D

It was windy here this morning, but not too bad. Been almost dead calm since then and mostly dry. Waiting is the worst bit.........

Mick

[Cliff Rogers]

You might be fairly safe where you are 'cos most of the strong wind will be coming across the land before it gets to you.

[Cliff Rogers]

Power is gone... see ya.

[Waldo]

Bugger.

[Groggy]

See you on the other side Cliff, don't forget to bring in the washing! :wink:

[rsser]

Best of British to you all.

[Waldo]

Reading through ABC's blog of people up North Queensland ABC News - Cyclone Yasi Live (http://www.abc.net.au/news/events/cyclone-yasi/) and I was dumbfounded when I scrolled down to the post at 2:40 pm. :: Some idiot thinks a trampoline lying against a window will be a sort of ...

I'm staggered. Big things fly through the air and cause damage elsewhere. :minigun: :shakehead:

[Dengue]

Light rain and winds in Townsville, with the ocasional strong wind gusts. All windows taped up, all loose stuff put in shed or tossed in to the swimming pool.

As JourneyMan Mick said, waiting is the worst part.

I can still remember Althea in 1971 - big sheets of roofing iron floating past like they were paper, water in the downpipes in the house over the road actually going up the pipes, with a big fountain spray at the top, the rain all going horizontal, forcing its way in at the bottom of the downpipe.

Our biggest fear is damage from flying debris from surrounding properties, esp if roofs start peeling off and becoming airborne.

Our ensuite is a cyclone shelter, being a Besser block walled structure with a 6 inch reinforced concrete roof and a small window to the outside. I don't know why the local council doesn't insist on all building having this - it is minimal extra cost when building.

The attached picture gives a comparison of Yasi with other large cyclones.

[Dengue]

A last defiant act in the face of huge threats

[RETIRED]

I was in Darwin when Tracy hit.

Take it easy and keep safe all. The wait is the worst part.

Don't forget air plugs.:wink:

[Dengue]

Our internally located barometer is starting to fall here in Townsville. Locked at 1010 hPa for the past few weeks, in the past few hours it has fallen to 1005 hA.

At the BoM outdoor weather station at the airport, it is below 1002 hPa and falling.

It is raining and the winds are moderate here, some 10km inland

[RETIRED]

I was in Darwin when Tracy hit.

Take it easy and keep safe all. The wait is the worst part.

Don't forget air EAR plugs.:wink:Correction. Sorry Jill.

[Cliff Rogers]

We lost power at 2:30pm, just running the generator for a quick update.

Leaves started falling at 4:00pm.

Bits of pine tree going past now.

Edge of the eye is 220Kms away, destructive winds just hitting Innisfail now; we will get them within the next half hour.

I’ll have to turn the generator off & bring it in & sit it out.


See ya when I can. :2tsup:
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[Ironwood]

Good luck Cliff.

[Ruddy]

Good luck everyone up there......I imagine the waiting is a very difficult time..
stay safe

[chrisb691]

Good luck to all. Thinking of you all.

[WoodJunky]

Good Luck to everyone up that way

Watching the progress on TV and it's going to be one hell of a rough ride

Stay safe

[acmegridley]

Good luck to all, I have a friend in Townsville,runs a dive shop,can't reach him by phone, hope he is ok.Hope there is not too much loss of life (if any):2tsup:

[Cliff Rogers]

Path changed again, now going to come closer that I had hoped. :(

[m2c1Iw]

Path changed again, now going to come closer that I had hoped. :(

We have everything crossed Cliff, you'll be right.

[Cliff Rogers]

Getting dark & scary now... strong wind, raining, leaves everywhere, haven't heard any loud bangs yet.
Eye is now about 180K away & is now heading towards us. :(

[mic-d]

Getting dark & scary now... strong wind, raining, leaves everywhere, haven't heard any loud bangs yet.
Eye is now about 180K away & is now heading towards us. :(

Tell us when the cows blow past Cliff:D
g' luck.

Cheers
Michael

[Allan at Wallan]

Thanks for the progress reports Cliff but really
want the one that says everyone is ok with minimal
disruptions to your lives.

Stay safe and comfortable.

Allan:fingerscrossed:

[Dengue]

It is just past 8pm, and Townsville is about to enter the "Destructive Winds" phase, with gusts in excess of 125 km/h. It is quite wild and wet outside, and a few dips of the power every now and then. The building is being really buffetted at the moment, but lots worse to come.

You have got to feel for the poor people of Innisfail, having just got their life back together after cyclone Larry's total devastation.

We just hope flying debris from the neighbourhood doesn't cause too much damage here in the suburbs of Townsville. I remember houses in Althea literally falling apart, but since then new building regulations ( eg cyclone bolts from the foundations to the roof) make things a lot more secure. It only took one sheet of roofing iron to lift, then the rest just peeled away

[Cliff Rogers]

Don't watch Channel 7, you'll sheyet yerself. :D

They are just blowing it up like anything.

Edge of the eye is still 160Kms away from us, we are using a gen set for power, it is windy, it is raining, it is dark & scary but there are no cows blowing past, yet, & so far, we have only heard a couple of light things hit the roof.

We are also a bit protected at present 'cos the wind is still coming from the south & we have a hill (mountain) just south of us that is about 300M higher than us.

Map says it is still headed our way but the moving colourised image (http://www.goes.noaa.gov/sohemi/sohemiloops/shirgmscol.html) shows it going just under us, I WANT to be above it.... please?

OK, getting serious now... something just went bouncing along the roof but it wasn't a cow.

[rhancock]

Good luck to all.

To those of us not affected this time around, read the signature below...

[Cliff Rogers]

Jack is in Townsville, he lost power just before 8pm.

[m2c1Iw]

OK, getting serious now... something just went bouncing along the roof but it wasn't a cow.

Probably just fish Cliff. :D

[Allan at Wallan]

Batten down the chooks Cliff ... gunna be a wild time.

Hang on a minute, no hang on for a few hours.

Good luck,

Allan

[Fireman sam]

My sister is just north of Townsville she just text to say that two big trees just come down in her place no damage to the house
Every one up there stay safe
Thanks Andrew:fireman:

[texx]

i am sorry , maybe i am a sick bugger but i just keep thinking of all the wood that will be laying around in the morning .

[Cliff Rogers]

Probably just fish Cliff. :D
Maybe :think:


Batten down the chooks Cliff ... ...
The chooks have been in the shed since this time last night.

Yasi has wobbled on it's axis again & is now headed just below us again... phew... it has slowed down, not in strength, just movement, that is just going to make the wind last longer.

[Cliff Rogers]

i am sorry , maybe i am a sick bugger but i just keep thinking of all the wood that will be laying around in the morning .
I still have wood from Larry & that was almost 5 years ago now. :rolleyes:

[Cliff Rogers]

This one might take some of it back if it gets too close. :rolleyes:

[Cliff Rogers]

Cyclone Althea December 24 1971 restored footage

YouTube - Cyclone Althea December 24 1971 restored footage

[Geoff Dean]

Cliff, how are all your new trees holding up?

Got any spare ones left to plant?

[Cliff Rogers]

Dunno, can't see them from here. :D

Still have about 90 in pots hiding in the bush.

[m2c1Iw]

Hope you have somewhere strong to hunker down Cliff by the looks you are still on the north side of the eye but man it's going to be close, crikey look out man.:(

[TTIT]

Hang in there Cliff :2tsup: - but PLEASE keep the bloody rain up your way - the nerves couldn't handle another bout :no:
Hope you've put that whizz-bang fandangled food mangulator in a safe place :;

[Cliff Rogers]

Wobbled a little bit further south again, edge of the eye now only about 110Kms away but it is headed for Dunk Island at present.

Wind has changed directions ever so slightly & I am happy with the way it is turning at this stage.

[AlexN]

Hold on there, Cliff!

Cheers,
Alex.

[AlexN]

Jeez, that's a monster - I've been looking at it for the last day or so and I still can't believe just how big the darned thing is.

[BobL]

I know you N QLDers are tough SOBs but even this one looks like it could stretch you guys. All the best!

[Cliff Rogers]

Only 85Kms away from us now, constant driving rain, sticks & stuff bouncing off the roof.

[Waldo]

Hang in there Cliff Young. Wongo and I need you around for Drivel. :2tsup:

I'm turning in. :zzsoft:

[powderpost]

Mareeba has lost power, but for some reason we still have it. Don't know for how long. Didn't realise we had so much stuff around. Boarded up the windows in the shed just before dark. Starting to get a bit windy now, plenty of leaves and small branches flying around. Looks like it is going to give Innisfail, Tully and Ingham will get a real touchup. Power starting to flicker..
Jim

[Cliff Rogers]

Very windy now, starting hear stuff breaking.

[powderpost]

Lived all my life up here, have never seen anything like this before. Wind getting stronger, rain just starting...
Jim

[Cliff Rogers]

About 75kms away now, going below us... still hasn't crossed the coast.

I can hear lots of stuff bouncing off the roof, constant rain, but then sometime it goes much quieter.

[AlexN]

Eye is just about to cross coast at Mission Beach, maybe in next ten minutes or so...

[Cliff Rogers]

Yup. The edge of the eye is about to go over Dunk Island & then Mission Beach.

[Cliff Rogers]

Lucinda is recording 185KPH winds..... that is what Willis Island got to before it went offline.

[Claw Hama]

Are you still in one piece Cliff, keep your head down you must be right amongst it now.
Good luck

[Cliff Rogers]

Only 55k from the eye, branches down on the lawn now, stuff hitting the roof, wind is swinging around to the west.

[Cliff Rogers]

50Km away now, very windy here but we still don't have the same amount of damage that we got in Larry.

[Cliff Rogers]

Cairns radar just lost part of the picture.

[Cliff Rogers]

I am going to have to call it quits, the gen set will need fuel soon & I'm not going out to fill it.

[Geoff Dean]

Morning Cliff, did anything miss you?

[Chesand]

Good morning Cliff

Hope you and yours are safe and well after a nasty night.

[tea lady]

Hope you're OK Cliff!

[Claw Hama]

Hey Cliff hope you and family and friends are ok.

[jimbur]

Same here
Jim