unwanted visitor

[journeyman Mick]

We've all had them, an unwanted visitor. They come at an inopportune time, and you need to tidy up around the place to prepare for their arrival. Well I found out yeaterday afternoon that we were having one of those visitors. I've spent the whole day today tidying up around the place, ready for his arrival early tommorrow morning. I even finished screwing down all the barge capping on my shed extension and borrowed the fire truck to fill three empty 1KL water tanks I had sitting around. Cleaned the front and back verandah of all loose objects and had a really good tidy up in the yard. His name is Larry and you can see him here: http://www.bom.gov.au/products/IDQ65240.shtml

Hope he buggers off quickly!;)

Mick

[namtrak]

Stay safe, JM and all the rest up that way- Looks like it could be a biggie

[Wood Butcher]

All the best Mick. Hope you don't get on the way!!

[womble]

I really don't want this thing to hit, our house is not yet ready for a cyclone :( :(

http://www.woodworkforums.ubeaut.com.au/showthread.php?t=24241

I'm expecting to lose the roof at the very least as it hasn't been fully screwed down yet, the building inspector was supposed to visit it tomorrow to inspect the cyclone proofing of the roof structure, so the sheets of iron aren't fully secured.

I'm praying it veers south but it doesn't look good :(

[ozwinner]

All the best Mick and Jane..

Weird I know , but I have always wanted to experiance a strong blow, hurricane/cyclone.

Al :o

[Ian007]

I hope that he changes his mind and just dont bother coming over :rolleyes:

Stay safe Mick, make sure you look after yourselve's if this bugger does show up.

Cheers Ian:)

[Clinton1]

Yes, all the best to the FNQ'er's.

It used to be exciting when I was a young un, now I'd just stress I think.

Hope the rain off it spreads far and wide though.

[Rocker]

Mick,

Good luck. I shall be thinking of you tomorrow morning.

Rocker

[namtrak]

When Cyclone Steve hit in 2001? we hired the movie Twister for the night - that turned out to be scarier than the cyclone (which did dump an incredible amount of water). This one is moving a lot faster both laterally and cyclonically.

[Andy Mac]

Yeah, keep safe guys. Sounds like you're organised already. I'm just hoping the visitor will spread some of that rain around.:) Maybe there'll be some windfall in way of trees to harvest later, trying to think positively you know!:D

Good luck,

[echnidna]

Keep well Mick

[womble]

It is absolutely still here, not a breath of wind anywhere and no rain whatsoever. You wouldn't think a cyclone was coming. It will change later no doubt.

[Driver]

Good luck, Mick and all the other FNQers. Stay safe.

[craigb]

Larry is one angry mother! :eek:

Batten down the hatches all you FNQ'ers.

Good Luck!

[outback]

Stay safe, keep yer head down, and send the rain down our way.

[Auld Bassoon]

Thinking of you Mick (and Womble).

I hope that it peters out before it gets too close.

[bitingmidge]

Same same from me.

P
:)

[E. maculata]

Crikey:eek: don't take any of those chances that you FNQ Blokes are rather fond of;)

[Ashore]

My thoughts are with you guys and your families ...stay well

Russell

[Jack E]

Why wouldn't a cyclone come.
I have an RDO tommorrow and have just heard they have closed work anyway:) And I had an early tee off booked:mad:
Spent a bit of time tidying up, securing windows etc today.
I hope it all blows over.
Good luck to those further north who from the sounds of it will cop the worst.

Cheers, Jack

[namtrak]

And for those that are interested

Radar (http://mirror.bom.gov.au/products/IDR192.loop.shtml)

Latest Advice (http://www.bom.gov.au/cgi-bin/wrap_fwo.pl?IDQP0005.txt)

Latest Map (http://www.bom.gov.au/products/IDQ65002.shtml)

[journeyman Mick]

Womble,
I was wondering about your place, even if the whole roof isn't screwed off as long as all the laps are screwed then you've got half a chance. If it was my place I would've been up there all day with a screw gun and a box of screws. I've even screwed down a roof in the rain using a cordless and a few batteries, bloody slippery but no sunburn. Hope it all goes well for you. It's dead still here too and very muggy. I've made all the preparations I can besides taping the windows. I won't do that unless it actually gets real blowy around here - it's a bugger to clean the windows afterwards,

Jack,
what's wrong with a bit of wind and rain when you're golfing?:D

Andy,
got the chainsaws fuelled, oiled and sharpened waiting for the harvest. :D

All,
thanks for the well wishes, everything will be Jake (and I'll be as happy as Larry;) )

[Jack E]

Jack,
what's wrong with a bit of wind and rain when you're golfing?:D

Yeah mate, I will be up early checking the weather. If it is not too bad I will be out chasing the little white ball.

It is rainy, windy and muggy here.
I guess the calmness up there is a bad sign.

Good luck, Jack

[womble]

The laps are screwed down fortunately but it wont be enough if it keeps coming due west. I would have gone up on the roof if we had a ladder high enough but ours isn't, and the relocators took their's the other day. The bloke doing the removal/restumping reckons he's going to be up early tomorrow morning to screw it down, I reckon he's got buckleys as it's supposed to hit around 7am or so and I cant see him getting up the gillies and screwing a roof on in 200+ winds. We'll just have to wait and see I guess, I'm hoping for the best but expecting the worst.

Its still quiet here in Cairns, just a slight breeze starting to stir now but nothing significant, and no rain at all. Talk about calm before a storm!


Womble,
I was wondering about your place, even if the whole roof isn't screwed off as long as all the laps are screwed then you've got half a chance. If it was my place I would've been up there all day with a screw gun and a box of screws. I've even screwed down a roof in the rain using a cordless and a few batteries, bloody slippery but no sunburn. Hope it all goes well for you. It's dead still here too and very muggy. I've made all the preparations I can besides taping the windows. I won't do that unless it actually gets real blowy around here - it's a bugger to clean the windows afterwards,

Jack,
what's wrong with a bit of wind and rain when you're golfing?:D

Andy,
got the chainsaws fuelled, oiled and sharpened waiting for the harvest. :D

All,
thanks for the well wishes, everything will be Jake (and I'll be as happy as Larry;) )

[journeyman Mick]

Womble,
generally once they cross the coast they drop in intensity somewhat and hopefully by the time it gets to your place it will have expended a bit of energy. Whern Steve passed right overhead it was very gusty but that was all. Of course thaere have been notable exceptions in the past that have come miles overland and still been very destructive. In the end you prepare what you can and then just sit back and see what happens, no point stressing as it won't change anything (well maybe your blood pressure:rolleyes: ) Hang in there mate, life's too short etc.

Mick

PS just had a bit of rain, about 20 seconds worth but it's still completely calm.

PPS The dog is hiding under the bed-he's smarter than us, we wouldn't know it was coming without all the technical jiggery pokery and he knows it's on its way

[womble]

pretty windy now, strong gusts howling through with a bit of rain. I cant believe the number of cars going past this time of the morning, if they are out 'rubbernecking' at a category 4 cyclone then they are pretty stupid...

[MathewA]

Why wouldn't a cyclone come.
I have an RDO tommorrow and have just heard they have closed work anyway:) And I had an early tee off booked:mad:
Spent a bit of time tidying up, securing windows etc today.
I hope it all blows over.
Good luck to those further north who from the sounds of it will cop the worst.

Cheers, Jack

With your back to the wind you should be able to knock the ball half way across australia

[MathewA]

Just watching sunrise talk about it. Hope your kite string is up to it Mick. We'll all be thinking about you and hoping and yours well.

[jmk89]

Ditto all best wishes and thoughts
PS Mick I will understand if you don't get to the Post Office today to send that package to me.
Jeremy

[doug the slug]

Good luck to the FNQ people, if its any consolation we are getting a bit of nice rain from it here

[Iain]

From what I saw on the news the authorities are having problems convincing locals that a cyclone is coming.
Some locals and tourists are poo pooing them because all is so pleasant and serene, can't possibly be a cyclone.
Trust all is well for you.

[Jack E]

Well it is pretty windy and rainy here.
NO GOLF today:mad:
We have what appears to be just a storm, all the bad stuff is a few hours north.
I hope all is well further up the coast.

Cheers, Jack

[Simomatra]

All the best Mick

Stay battened down. Went throught the last 2 in WA on a ship. Not much fun

Regards Sam :(

[RufflyRustic]

I can't tell what is happening too well by the radar. it's 9:07 am Monday and I can see it's now inland, but is it blowing itself out or is it going to go further inland? The visible satellite photo shows the eye clearly inland.


Yep, Have MIL alone up in Cairns and am a bit worried......

Wendy

[TassieKiwi]

Good luck FNQ'ers - nasty wind. Stay safe.

D

[RufflyRustic]

Just heard from MIL. She's shaken, but not too bad.

House - Roof and windows ok, though thought the roof would go it was vibrating that much
The pool is a garden soup.
All the fences have been flattened. There's barely a tree left standing in her and the neighbour's yards.
Cairns had 290 KM/hour winds.
Innisfail had 300km/hour winds and is flattened - how flattened I don't know.

Mick & Womble and anyone else - Are you ok?

Wendy

[Wood Borer]

Mick and Jane, Womble and Cliff,

Meg and I are thinking of you all and hoping for minimal damage.

On a positive note, there may be some timber going begging to be milled.;)

[jmk89]

Mick and Jane, Womble and Cliff,

Meg and I are thinking of you all and hoping for minimal damage.

On a positive note, there may be some timber going begging to be milled.;)

As the panel beater's daughter said as she looked out at the hail storm, "it's an ill wind that blows nobody any good....":D

[namtrak]

I reckon we'll be lucky to get any replies from FNQ's for a few days. Power will be down for a while. Our neighbour is just doing a reccie on our joint on the Tablelands

[Ian007]

I just spoke to Mick on the phone and He and Jane are fine and they faired OK.

No damage so to speak, but there power is out and might be for a few days, Mick said that he has a generator, so he should be able to run some gear like fridges ect.

Very good news, I am sure we would all agree.

Cheers Ian:)

[RufflyRustic]

Whew! Thanks Ian!

Wendy

[Tikki]

Great news Ian! :D Lets hope we get the same positive news from Cliff and the other members in the area

Cheers
Tikki :)

[Iain]

I thought Cliff was on the left side of the hill and less likely to be affected........I hope so anyway.

[ozwinner]

:eek: Cliffs a lefty? :eek:

Al :p

[Wood Borer]

Cliff lives in Cairns during the week and not too far from the Tarzali Fish Farm on the weekends up in the Tablelands.

I just tried to call Cliff at the Tablelands farm and I receive a Telstra message informing me that all lines are busy in that area.

[CameronPotter]

... Mick said that he has a generator, so he should be able to run some gear like fridges ect.


Fridges? DOn't you mean power tools... Oh wait a second, now I get it.

Fire up the chainsaw, procure some of that "specially felled" lumber and after all of that (and a bit of cleaning up the yard) you NEED a cold beer...

Thus, the fridge I guess - especially in Northern Qld.

Cam

ps Seriously: I hope that everyone is well (and Womble's roof stayed where it should).

[dai sensei]

Just got home from work and heard the news.

Hope all our fellow members and their friends, family and neighbours etc are all Ok.

[Wood Borer]

I just rang Cliff's office in Cairns and everything is OK. His shed in the Tablelands suffered a bit of damage due to a tree falling.

Cliff was away when it all happened but he will be back this afternoon and no doubt he will fill us all in with the details.

[womble]

we've got power back where we are here in Cairns but lots of areas in Cairns are still out, Innisfail and the Tablelands will be out for much longer I suspect, the tablelands has lines down everywhere and lots of trees are down too. Many of the main roads are just being cleared now, I havent been able to get up to work for 2 days now (Lotus Glen prison) as all the range roads have been blocked.

We got a lot of wind here in Cairns, but Innisfail and the Tablelands got a real flogging. My parents place which adjoins our house block at Lake Eacham has suffered extensive tree loss, we had hundreds of natives and exotics which are either knocked down or badly damaged. I havent seen it yet and am not looking forward to either as these trees have been planted and grown over the last 25 years or so. I would rather go there and help clean up then go to work for the rest of the week, but don't like my chances. Luckily we didn't get a lot of rain here in Cairns but the tablelands did. The place we are in at the moment was lucky, we were pretty sheltered and the only real damage was some bottlebrush branches falling across the clothesline.

I'm still disgusted by many people in Cairns who went for 'sunday drives' yesterday to rubberneck at the damage done, our street has never been busier and I watched cars going by filled with parents and children having a stickybeak. Despite repeated warnings from police, radio and electricity providers to stay at home due to danger from downed power lines, no traffic lights etc etc.

On the good side however our house we relocated still has its roof!! I don't know how, although I suspect being on the sheltered side of the hill for much of the cyclone saved it. Very happy about that, I thought it was a goner for sure!!!

[AlexS]

Glad to hear you all came out of it without too much damage - especially that there were no fatalaties.

[jow104]

Yes, your bad news reached the UK, pleased to hear your OK.

The US are predicting some severe weather on our news today, and they are practising evacuation plans for N.Y.

[namtrak]

I was just chatting with the neighbours on Mclean Rd up at Lake Eacham and it took a group of them with 9 chainsaws and 2 tractors most of the day to clear enough trees to be able to get out of the street!! They hold little hope of getting any power within the fortnight. And, funnily enough, they reckon they are well off given the plight on the coast.

Cheers

[jow104]

Their lines must be working though, unless they are on battery?

[doug the slug]

Well I'm pleased that everyone, especially the ones i know up there seem to have gotten through it ok, ive got a hand of bananas im thinking of putting on ebay, starting price $50.00http://www.woodworkforums.ubeaut.com.au/images/icons/icon10.gifhttp://www.woodworkforums.ubeaut.com.au/images/icons/icon10.gifhttp://www.woodworkforums.ubeaut.com.au/images/icons/icon10.gif

[Jack E]

Doug just got me thinking about bananas.
Apparently they may rise in price by as much as 400%
Why is this so.
All the banana crops have been destroyed.
Therefore wholesalers and green grocers are raising the price on bananas that they have purchased before the cyclone at the normal prices.

Profiteering on the back of a natural disaster:confused:

Perhaps if the price went up and the extra profits went to those affected it would be tolerable.

Glad to hear all is well up there, I hope the next one turns around and heads back out to sea.

Cheers, Jack

[jow104]

Jack,

If you were the retailer have you thought, how are you going to buy the next bunch of bananas to sell if you have not got the higher price already covered. The primary supplier wants the new price and you have sold at the old lower price so you do not have the money to buy in new stock.
Glad I'm retired fuel is going to get a problem.

[echnidna]

and waht makes yer think that the big 2 (Woolies & Coles) won't import bananas and sell em at an over the top price.

[jmk89]

....at the moment, no-one is allowed to import bananas into Australia. The banana growers have convinced the government that there is a quarantine issue. But if there is a banana shortage, you may see the quarantine issue disappear

[TARLOX]

Everyone can just have a break from Bannanas and eat apples and oranges for a while.

[ss_11000]

Everyone can just have a break from Bannanas and eat apples and oranges for a while.

green apples!!! not red ones..

hope all up north is ok...(get good advice from up there:D )

[jmk89]

I see that Mick hasn't posted a message since before Larry struck. Has anyone heard how he is going?

[Ian007]

Yep read post 40

[jmk89]

Yep read post 40

Sorry - I should have looked harder

[Ian007]

Sorry - I should have looked harder
:D :D

[journeyman Mick]

G'day all,
I'm back on line (finally) all safe and sound. We only had gusts around the 60 - 80 km/h mark around here (my estimates only, I wasn't about to go and stand around outside and hold the Kestrel meter up to check). Stuff like this really brings out the best and worst in people, idiots driving around rubbernecking at one end and at the other end, stuff like: butcher in Innisfail barbecued up all his stock to give away to people as he had no power to keep it and they had no food; volunteers coming from all over to help clean up; there was a call over the radio this morning for help at an aged community (self care type) that had no power and no food or cooking facilities, tha call came over after some neighbours went to check on them, within an hour there were private individuals dropping off home cooked meals and businesses bringing around gas barbies, takeaway meals etc.

Thanks everyone for your well wishes, couldn't get online earlier as the generator power is not too good for computers etc. Been trying to get a bit of work done the last two days, running a small compressor (got to time it when the booster pump isn't running and turn the shed lights off) trying to knock up some office furmiture that was due a fortnight ago:o . Life is almost back to normal here, but unfortunately for a lot of people around Innisfail it may be a year or more before things return to normal.

Mick

[Ashore]

Great to hear you and family are all safe and well
Also good is that the better people far outnumber the idiots, still thats Australia
Rgds Mate and thank god no fatalities

Russell

[Ian007]

Welcome back Mick,

I think there will be a lot of work around in that neck of the woods for a while for people in the building game and it dosnt look like there will be any shortage of unskilled labour with so many now out of work.:(

[RufflyRustic]

Hi JMMick, I am so relieved to hear you and Mrs JMM are safe and well.

Whew!!!!

cheers
Wendy

[Clinton1]

Good to hear Mick.

I'm still waiting to hear how Tully and El Arish got on as I have friends there. The official news doesn't cut it. :(

[Cliff Rogers]

Both houses safe, some water got it, some carpet buggered.
Garden in Cairns is fine.
Garden at Minbun is trashed.
Minbun is between Malanda & Millaa Millaa, about 15Kms south of Malanda.
Larry was still Cat 4 when it went over Malanda.
Minbun was on the very edge & didn't go into the eye.

We just got phones back at Minbun but still don't have power.
Running on a borrowed gen set at present.
Mobiles don't work up here as the local tower is off the air.

The pic below is just one of the smashed trees, it just missed our house.
The end of the branch was on the back verandah.
The thickest part of that branch is about 250mm (10inches)

We were VERY lucky compared to some.
Neighbour down the road has no house left.
Neighbour has lost the whole of a brand new machinery shed & it wasn't insured.

More pics here.
http://www.woodworkforums.ubeaut.com.au/showthread.php?p=282736#post282736

[Driver]

Good to know you're safe and well, Ginger!

(Ditto for Mick and Womble).

Considering the force of the storm, it's marvellous that no-one was killed and it's great to hear about the generous spirit of people like the butcher in Innisfail, helping their friends and neighbours.

[Auld Bassoon]

Glad to hear that you're well and safe Mick!

I guess that there'll always be idiots and people who are worthwhile. It sometimes take things like this to make it obvious who is who.

Take care!

[Cliff Rogers]

As Rob said, we weren't here for it...
We were in Brisbane when it happened. We didn't get home til Tuesday night.

Apart from water getting in & buggering up some carpet & some of the ceiling paint, the only damage is all tree related.

There is one on the shed, another pic below, & the garden is wrecked.

I have gone through 3 chains on my chainsaw & that is just cutting up the stuff that I have pruned off the stick on the shed & the trees on the lawn & driveway.
I haven't started on the garden or all the paddock trees that are lying all over the fences.

Here is a pic of our little tractor loaded up with tree debris, we have taken at least 10 of these loads away just from the driveway alone.

[powderpost]

All quiet in Mareeba again. One cypress tree down and two days cleaning up. Got two nice big heaps of rubbish to burn. Geez, were we lucky? Not much fun watching large glass windows pumping in the breeze.
Jim

[journeyman Mick]

While it seems that FNQ forumites have been very fortunate in escaping the worst of the storm, many weren't so fortunate. That said, it could have been much, much worse. It was a pretty dry cyclone and it moved in a pretty straight line and quite rapidly. Had it been slow moving and preceeded and followed by a few weeks of rain it would have been much worse.

Scenario: a fortnight of heavy rain, causing flooding and cutting the roads south, cat 4 cyclone hits Cairns. It's very slow moving takes a few hours to move over the city before hitting the tablelands. It slowly moves inland and up to the gulf where it reintensifies all the while dumping more rain.

The winds destroy much of the airport infrastructure along with a large percentage of buildings in Cairns and surrounds. There's no power and the storm surge has filled most service station tanks with water. After a few days the backup generators for telephone exchanges fail and there's no fuel available to refill them (or no access) There's no road access for vital supplies and the airport is crippled. Survivors have no housing, dry clothing, food or clean water and the sewerage system no longer works.

While this sounds very gloom and doom it's unfortunately not inconcievable. Unfortunately there's a lot of people in Cairns who say that cyclones are no real threat and while the destruction around Innisfail and Millaa Millaa may make some of them think, a lot of them will say that it hasn't affected them and that they won't worry about or make prepartions for the next one.

Fact: when cyclone Joy was threatening Cairns about 15 years ago the government had 30K bodybags on standby.:eek:

Mick

[journeyman Mick]

Clinton,
apparently there;s a hotline (1800 number) you can ring to check on friends and rellies, if I find it I'll PM you. I saw a bit of the news tonight and they make it sound as if it's all in hand. I know that it isn't. They're trying to organise volunteer rural fire fighters to help in the clean up but while there's lots of interest from our brigades there's a lack of communications somewhere up the chain or between different agencies and it hasn't happened yet. I'm not even sure whether they'll need special legislation so that we're protected legally and accident compensation-wise like we are when fighting fires. Not bagging anyone here, it's a huge job and it's probaly beyond what they've ever planned for.

My neighbour works for Ergon and was away for work when the cyclone struck. No doubt he's been sent to work on power restoration as he hasn't been home since then, he may not even know that his house is okay:(

Mick

[Schtoo]

Glad to hear everyone is ok, not too much harm done by the looks which is even better.

Last phone exchange I did work at had 3 seperate generators, 35,000+ litres of diesel and was fed from 3 different incoming lines plus a massive battery bank. That's 7 levels of failsafe for a single exchange.

Can't even recall what it's name was, but it was within walking distance of that big bridge in Sydney, and a few months before 1999 ended.

I just know that all other telephone exchanges are various steps down from that one, but they took it really serious that time at that one exchange. Can't think why... :confused: :p

Nice to know the folks out 'there' get looked after as well as the folks 'who matter'. :rolleyes: :rolleyes: :rolleyes: :rolleyes: :rolleyes:

We get typhoons here, which are pretty soft in reality. It rains a lot, blows a bit but nothing frightful or scary. Yet some people here manage to cark it with each decent one that arrives. I guess that might speak volumes for common sense that appears to be far less than common around here. :mad:

[Cliff Rogers]

More pics of our place. I guess they don't mean that much unless you saw a before shot.
The Rain forrest shots all have a big green canopy & you couldn't see the hill behind Rain Forest 1.

I have to go to Innisfail today to assess the condition of some water damaged computers.... they have more than tree damage down there.

I have more but they didn't shrink down to less that 100K.

The 50 year old pine tree in Garden 3 just missed the water tank & knocked out 2 panels of the front fence. We can stand that up again no worries. The fence, not the pine tree.

The road in Pine Trees 1 has been cleared by a tractor.

The shiny thing on the hill in the background of Rain Forest 2 is a sheet of iron from a dairy about 1km up the road.
The chimney top of their house was on our front path... it is a 400mm square sheet of tin, I hate to think where it could have gone.

[Iain]

George Bush offered asisstance and Howard declined, bet the locals are really pleased about that knowing how long it tales for the pollies to get off their bums, except for a bit of rubber necking and bleating to the media.
We offered aid to Atlanta and it was accepted, thought it would be nice to get some money happening a bit quicker.

[echnidna]

Glad you and yours are ok Cliff. :)
and likewise to Mick :)
and everyone else :)

[jow104]

Rubbernecking is a two edged saw.

We had a foot & mouth outbreak (cattle only)some years ago and were forbidden to visit the countryside. This of course then created economic disaster for unconnected businesses in the countryside. However I can fully understand victims of your storm having reactions to visitors eyeballing.

Hope your recovery is not too long.

[Cliff Rogers]

Rubber necks are a pain in a disaster situation like a cyclone.

There's nothing for them to buy, there's nowhere for them to stay & they just get in the bloody road of people who are out there trying to work.

Today I went down to Innisfail from the Tablelands to help get computers in a bank back on line so they could process Centrelink vouchers.
I then drove to my office in Cairns to do pays for my troops & then back up to the tablelands with 300Kgs of fruit & veg for our group of friends who share in a bulk buy.

I did about 270Kms today & the bloody rubber necks nearly drove me nuts.... they slow down to gork at everything. :mad:

[journeyman Mick]

Cliff,
if you've got the Cairns Post with the pic on the front page of the timber batten that's speared through the palm tree can you please scan it to show everyone? I spotted it in passing today at a client's place, don't have it myself. It's a pretty awseome illustration of the power involved in a cyclone (and a good reason not to go rubbernecking during the blow:p )

Some of our brigade is going to Herberton on Monday to relieve some of the clean up crews. There's an amazing amount of community spirit, a local building company sent a truck & bobcat plus 10 tradesmen & apprentices + utes and tool trailers down to Innisfail today for a week to help in the repairs, all at no charge. Went out to dinner last night in town and saw about 30 SES volunteers that had flown on from down south, checking in to a hotel. A lot of the volunteers are people that have left their families and jobs behind for a week or two. A big pat on the back for everyone involved.

Mick

[felixe]

I am glad to hear everyone on this forum from FNQ has fared ok, after the cyclone, I hope everything is going well.
Do any of you guys know how Dunk Island (4kms off Mission Beach) is?
I saw some news footage of Mission and it looks as though it copped a battering.
I worked up there 3 years ago, and I have not yet heard from anyone how the resort is.
Cliff how is the tablelands, how is Malanda, the whole area up there through to Mareeba is fantastic and I hope it didn't get too battered.

[namtrak]

There are a few pics here (http://www.abc.net.au/farnorth/). The Peeramon Pub copped a bit of a pasting. We used to spend Sunday Afternoons there rocking it out to the Johnston Stompers.

Cheers

[Clinton1]

One thing I am confident in is that the people in FNQ are the kind of people pull through this well.

I hope that at the end of the recovery (years away) there's enough energy left over to push for a better way of dealing with such events.

I'm not saying that to level any criticism, just that I think some lessons can be learned and I hope that a bit of funding gets put aside for it. i.e. upgrading an inland town's water supply to cope with a rapid demand for bottled treated water, and pre-positioning a heap of plastic 20lt bottles. Or flood proofing the road south of Tully. I think the nation can probably afford it, IMO.
AND, being able to declare a disaster and paying those SES champions, so we as a nation don't have to rely on families sacrificing wages to pull us all out of the poo.

[journeyman Mick]

AND, being able to declare a disaster and paying those SES champions, so we as a nation don't have to rely on families sacrificing wages to pull us all out of the poo.

I don't think they pay SES volunteers even if they do declare a disaster, do they? Going to see what's left of Herberton tommorrow early. They've got the rural firies relieving some of the other agencies.

As far as being better prepared for emergencies, well years ago (before the place filled up with southerners) locals had pantries and water tanks. Some of us still do. People around here asked me how I fared during/after the cyclone, and I tell them fine, coz I've got my own water supply, a well stocked pantry and generator, plus I've climbed the only large tree in our yard and removed a lot of its top limbs. "You were lucky" they reply. I tell them, "yeah I was lucky, but mostly I was prepared" ;) Obviously if the cyclone had ripped right through here I might not be so lucky, but historically this area hasn't been hit as much as others and I'm a little way from the coast so wouldn't get the full strength of the blow.

Mick (luck favours the well prepared)

[namtrak]

This is one of the roads leading into Lake Eacham.

[CameronPotter]

Good as new...

Better in fact as it has all that nice soft material to act as suspension... :rolleyes:

Cam

[namtrak]

Yes, I think Eacham Shire council is going to bite the bullet and convert the road into a 4WD trial course.

This last pic is of the leaf splatter on our house sort of looks more dramatic than it actually is.

Cheers

[Cliff Rogers]

Go to this link, set the start date to 19 March 2006 and the time to 00,
set the number of images to 30 & click the 'Loop These Images' button & watch Larry whiz past.
If you look at the overlap between the Cairns & the Townsville radars,
there is a little green notch in the black part of the circles caused by a couple of high mountains.
Our house on the tablelands is in that green notch, just near the top.
You can see just how close bloody Larry came.
http://www.bom.gov.au/nmoc/archives/Radar/