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Post by Avril on Jan 16, 2011 21:36:12 GMT -5
Meh. So, win-win doesn't appeal to you? Starting a new megalomaniac streak, Ratty? Should we call you Toad, now?
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Post by dragrat on Jan 16, 2011 21:37:51 GMT -5
OH dear.. I have been too cynical, again!! Yes Toad has his appearances from time to time within the character of Ratty.. Anyway this off topic!! Move on over to my thread..
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Post by Avril on Feb 1, 2011 16:37:55 GMT -5
North Queensland is set to get a category 5 cyclone in about 12 to 14 hours. Flash flooding and winds up to 320 kph are expected. It's just horror on horror. Yasi upgraded to a category five cyclone Aaron Cook and Tom Reilly The Sydney Morning herald February 2, 2011
Video here: www.smh.com.au/environment/weather/yasi-upgraded-to-a-category-five-cyclone-20110201-1acgp.html
Cyclone upgraded to category five
The streets of north Queensland are deserted as the region prepares for the onslaught of Cyclone Yasi which has been upgraded to a category five.
CYCLONE YASI has been upgraded to a category five cyclone, surpassing the size and destructive intensity of the cyclones Larry and Tracy.
It is expected to smash into the coast near Cairns tonight, with furious winds, torrential rain and floods adding to Queensland's massive damage bill from natural disasters this summer.
The cyclone was upgraded overnight, meaning winds of up to around the 300km/h mark are expected.
Yasi
Communities between Port Douglas and Townsville are being warned of an "extremely dangerous" storm tide as it approaches the north Queensland coast.
"Severe Tropical Cyclone Yasi is a large and very powerful tropical cyclone and poses an extremely serious threat to life and property within the warning area," the Bureau of Meteorology said in its updated warning.
"This impact is likely to be more life threatening than any experienced during recent generations."
Clouds form over the central business district on Cairms waterfront as Queenslanders brace themsleves for Cyclone Yasi on February 1, 2011. Senior Bureau forecaster Gordon Banks said Yasi could take at least 24 hours to weaken after it makes landfall.
"There’s still potential for it to become stronger ... as a strong category five we could see wind gusts in excess of 320 kilometres an hour, which is just horrific," he told the ABC this morning.
The storm surge is expected to reach 2.5 metres above the highest tide, inundating Cairns CBD.
Flood map Image courtesy of US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
Cairns Mayor Val Schier told ABC Radio that some people were refusing to leave their homes and "that is their prerogative", but they were at risk if they did not move to higher land.
Most businesses in the city had closed down by this morning and very few people were on the streets, she said. But Ms Schier said some people were not taking the cyclone warnings as seriously as they should.
"We are as ready as we can be but it is frightening, I can tell you," she said.
The Queensland Premier, Anna Bligh, said lives could be lost and warned that flooding from a storm surge, caused by high winds pushing water onshore, could be more dangerous than wind and flying debris.
''It will be a display of the awesome power of nature but it's not something you want to go outside and watch,'' she said.
Ms Bligh told Sky News the cyclone was likely to hit about 10pm at high tide.
"That means storm surges are an even greater problem today than we have contemplated yesterday," she said.
"People still have a very small window of opportunity to move to a safer place."
When the eye of the storm strikes land, wind gusts are likely to lift roofs and cause significant structural damage.
A direct hit on Cairns was a more likely scenario according to computer models, said a senior meteorologist from the Bureau of Meteorology, Ann Farrell.
Evacuation orders have been given to people in high-risk areas from Cooktown to Hinchinbrook Island.
The evacuation of patients from Cairns Base Hospital began at 9.15pm yesterday. About 30 were taken to the airport, where 10 planes were to ferry them to Brisbane.
"I'd rather stay here, but there's not too much you can do when a disaster strikes," said Warren McDowall, who has a hole in his bowel and is expected to remain in hospital for three more weeks. "I heard of the evacuation on the news first, but I understand why it had to happen. The sea is just across the road from the hospital and if this thing hits, this place is first in the firing line."
Six evacuation centres have been set up around Cairns, but conditions are spartan and evacuees were advised to bring food, bedding and medications.
The state disaster co-ordinator, Ian Stewart, said those fleeing the cyclone should aim to reach Mackay. He told people to get as far south as possible but urged them not to drive in high winds today.
One of Australia's leading experts on natural disasters said the centre of Cairns could be swamped by ''ferociously powerful'' waves caused by Yasi.
''This cyclone is a monster,'' warned Dr Douglas Goudie of James Cook University's Centre for Disaster Studies.
Dr Goudie said the predicted surge of two metres above king tide levels would leave much of the centre of the city under water.
''All the central business district would be under water but it wouldn't be slow-moving water. This surge would be powered by winds of around 280km/h and that would produce ferociously powerful waves that would be terribly destructive. These waves might not be very high but they would be carrying objects that could smash into buildings and we could see a lot of damage.
''When you combine this with the wind speeds that are predicted, this cyclone is a very frightening prospect,'' he said.
Supermarkets in Cairns reported panic buying of essential supplies and airlines put on extra flights to help visitors leave the area. Cairns Airport will close at 10am this morning after at least 900 people fled the city by air yesterday.
Sea ports are also closed.
Further north in Cooktown, the community of 2200 people was bunkering down to withstand the storm.
''The winds could reach up to 300 kilometres an hour and could cause a lot of structural damage,'' said the Cook Shire Council mayor, Peter Scott.
''Cooktown is an old town but a lot of the buildings built from 1975 are built to withstand cyclones.''
with Georgina Robinson and AAP
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Post by PigsnieLite on Feb 1, 2011 17:53:18 GMT -5
Is it hot where you are, Avrilly? Or are your skies ominously dark as well?
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Post by Avril on Feb 1, 2011 18:09:35 GMT -5
We're frying here. Temperatures in the high 30s and low 40s. It's excessively humid, as well. Our skies are endlessly blue and cloudless, however. Video here: www.smh.com.au/environment/weather/third-day-of-heat-is-the-one-to-beware-of-20110201-1acgt.htmlThird day of heat is the one to beware of Amy Corderoy, Amy McNeilage and Brian Robins, The Sydney Morning Herald February 2, 2011
Soaring temperatures a tough test
The extreme heat is proving to be a tough test for Sydneysiders with another blast of Summer heat through Wednesday.
HOSPITALS are bracing for a rise in heat-related admissions today as NSW swelters through a third day of hot weather.
Temperatures are expected to nudge 40 degrees in the western suburbs after they peaked at 43 yesterday and 41 on Monday.
Public health experts said day three of a heatwave was more dangerous than earlier days with hotter peaks, as people called ambulances or visited emergency departments as their bodies gave in to the immense pressure placed on them by the weather.
''The longer the heat lasts, the more likely it is that people won't be able to cope any more,'' said Vicky Sheppeard, a public health physician with NSW Health.
The people most likely to be affected had existing conditions such as asthma, heart disease or mental illness, but those without chronic conditions could suffer.
''People at risk include outdoor workers and people who continue with normal activities like exercise without preparing,'' she said.
NSW Health was advising people, in particular those over 75 and the very young, to drink plenty of water, avoid sugary drinks, wear loose-fitting clothes, and seek shelter in airconditioned buildings.
Thousands of school students have been forced to endure the heat in non-airconditioned classrooms.
The temperature is set to hit 40 degrees at Richmond today and the local public school, Colo High, has no airconditioning in more than half of its classrooms.
"My kids are sweltering out here," said the school's principal, Allan De Paoli. Some classrooms had no ceiling fans.
The state government has revealed that eight out of 10 new classrooms built under the Building the Education Revolution scheme were not fitted with airconditioning.
The weather also pushed electricity consumption to a record level of 14,744 megawatts yesterday. This exceeded the previous summer peak of 14,101MW reached on February 6, 2009, and the state's all-time record of 14,289MW, which occurred during the winter of 2008.
The increased use of airconditioners has pushed summer usage to new highs.
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Post by PigsnieLite on Feb 1, 2011 18:15:04 GMT -5
I Guess Im not visiting Oztralia anytime soon.
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Post by Avril on Feb 1, 2011 18:19:28 GMT -5
I thought you liked fried things? ;D
I'm wondering whether Zan will be called to Queensland to help with the cyclone in his capacity as State Emergency Services volunteer, or be put in reserve for the bush fires we're expecting will follow the heat wave here.
Btw, Zan's going to join the police force, eventually to specialise in Police Rescue work.
I saw him at Wombat's play the other night and he looked really buff!
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Post by PigsnieLite on Feb 1, 2011 20:27:09 GMT -5
I thought you liked fried things? ;D [PLite giggles like mad.] ;D PS. I dont like things buff unless its me own wee little scholarly muscles.
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Post by sunfrog on Feb 1, 2011 20:53:17 GMT -5
OOf! Poor Oz! It's doomed Doomed DOOMED!
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Post by Avril on Feb 1, 2011 22:57:05 GMT -5
Here's an impressive satellite pic:
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Post by Avril on Feb 1, 2011 22:59:32 GMT -5
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Post by PigsnieLite on Feb 1, 2011 23:12:30 GMT -5
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Post by Avril on Feb 2, 2011 0:07:54 GMT -5
Oh yes, I saw that. Looks like we'll see it all again in about 23 months.
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Post by Avril on Feb 2, 2011 7:38:45 GMT -5
Watching the news coverage of the cyclone as it revs up to hit in about 30 to 45 minutes. It will take four or five hours to pass after it hits the coast, but the wind and storm surges will last for two to three days, apparently, over an area the size of North America. It's a catastrophe of a magnitude no-one has ever experienced.
All evacuations stopped some hours ago. People who did not evacuate in time have been advised to stay put and bunker down in the smallest room of the house - usually the bathroom/toilet area - with food and water supplies for at least three days. They will have no power, and no idea of when it will be safe to leave their houses. The winds will be over 320kmh, the noise will be relentless, horrendous and terrifying. People have been told to lay mattresses against their bathroom doors to guard against flying debris penetrating the door, and to have shoes and weather gear at hand in case the roof is blown off. Still, they should not leave their safe spots, even in gaps in wind activity, because cyclones are unpredictable.
The storm surges on the coast are estimated to cause waves of about eight or nine metres high - that's about the height of a two storey building. Many houses, especially those Queensland houses built on stilts to survive the normal annual floods, will simply be blown away or completely smashed by extreme and destructive winds.
89,000 people in the Townsville/Ingham area are now without power. A wave buoy at Townsville is recording 18 metres and Premier Anna Bligh has just reassured people that this is a false reading as the buoy has waves breaking over it. The waves are a mere 9.5 metres. She's doing a great job of allaying panic, but she's not pulling any punches either.
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Post by sunfrog on Feb 2, 2011 8:20:15 GMT -5
I wanna see! Please tell your government not to turn off the internet.
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