General Chat

Just an update for anyone who has freinds or family in Melbourne and Victoria in general.

http://video.heraldsun.com.au/1781779199/Victoria-lucky-to-have-no-casualties?area=videoindex5

Hi Eastender and Sylvia.

Your welcome.

Montville is just slightly north/west of Brisbane city ( approx 200km )......so quite a distance away from where these cyclones came through.

Although i was born here, and my Aussie Geography is reasonable, i still have to "Google map" where some of these towns are myself....lol

All in all from reading some O/seas News....it does sound as if the whole country is going down the drain, but there would be some people living here in Aussie that would not even know all this was going on in the north east, if not for the Tele news or radio.
Although parts of the East coast is copping it badly with Cyclones and flooding,over in the West of the Country it is still under drought and bush fires.....In fact it is the driest year on record for southwest W.A..........Such is the size of this Island.

A freind from the U.K had emailed me and found it amazing why there were no deaths recorded from these last two massive cyclones here after it came through with such a vengence. A Catergory 5 cyclone is the highest you can get...........and If this happend in the U.K it would have wiped out thousands of people, he said.

I had said to him,that if you do a comparison ( size and population ) to other countries, then the area's of where these cyclones went through is less populated here than perhaps a major city in the U.K

In Comparison....you can fit the whole of Europe into Aussie with room to spare.
Population of Australia is 21 Million scattered over the same land mass area, so quite spread out.
The population of London is ( i think ) about 8 mil
The whole of the U.K ( plus Ireland ) fits 16 times into Oz....so you can evacuate to another part/state of the country if you really needed to.

This Cyclone Yasi is now heading for Alice Springs N.T ( Central Australia ) and although has weakened somewhat is still carrying high winds and much rainfall. So in fact it has travelled from the East coast of Aussie nearly 2200km inland towards central Alice Springs in the N.T causing much destruction along its path .......but not a single death that they can confirm positivley ...Yet!

It still is a very safe country generally, although it does sound bad at times.

Excellent summary Tony!


xxxxxx mick

Thank you Tony

Thank you Tony for the infomation, wasn't real sure where Montville was located, i appreciate you letting me know and keeping every one up dated on what's happening.
Thank you

Pam

Hi Eastender.

These two recent Cyclones in Queensland ( Anthony and Yasi )were no direct threat to Montville.
Montville is to far South ( Queensland ) and was not in the path of the Cyclones.

Sylvia.
Those two missing men were found, and are safe.
There is a recent report however of a couple that were on a Yaght that are now missing.
One death of a man who had locked himself inside a room as Yasi went through.
Unfortunatley, he died of Asphixiation as he was running a Generator in a confined closed area.
They say the man had been using a generator for power inside a closed room ( as power had been cut ), while waiting for Cyclone to pass over.
Quensland Premeir Anna Bligh stated: The coroner wanted me to make people understand that if you are using a generator for power, doing it in a closed room without any ventilation means you are at risk from asphyxiation from diesel fumes.

We here in Victoria - Melbourne are just now feeling the remnants of the first Cyclone "Anthony" that passed last week through northern Queensland, as warm moisture air moves down from the North and Cool air moving up from the south.........and are receiving flash flooding. Not on the scale of recent Queensland floods....but to the North of Victoria many rivers and creeks are overflowing and causing havoc to many country townships and communities. The city of Melbourne received 8 hrs plus of torrential downpour last night, and caused havoc on the roads in many outer and inner suburbs of the CBD. ( None life threating )
Our local Melbourne news reported last night for people of Melbourne to be aware of road closures, rivers and creeks rising around the suburbs, as there will be quite a bit of torrential rain over our weekend.This mornings local news shows us flooding in shopping centres and water knee high deep in and around some areas of Melbourne City as our gutters and drainage system struggle to cope with this sudden and very heavy downpour.

Latest News:
TORRENTIAL rain and thunder storms throughout Victoria has seen more than 3000 calls to emergency services, a woman in a critical condition after being hit by a tree and several people caught in floodwaters being rescued.
The torrential rain has lashed most parts of the state and metropolitan Melbourne, drenching some areas with more than 150mm of rain.

Bureau of Meteorology (BoM) forecaster Andrea Peace said Victorians were experiencing the effects of tropical cyclone activity.

"We have had a lot of moisture moving into the state which was the remnants of ex-cyclone tropical Anthony, that's moved down from central parts," she said.

The worst hit areas overnight in Melbourne were in the southeast, with Lyndhurst receiving 175mm of rain and Dandenong 157mm.

The SES received 3234 calls for help and 84 people had to be rescued from houses and cars inundated by the floods.




Weather meteoroligist are saying that Australia in general should prepare for more of this to come over the next coming years. Cyclones, Droughts, and Bush fires with extreme heat and extreme weather patterns.

I think the average Aussie knows this already.....lol
After all.... this is Australia, and we are a land of Droughts, Fires and Flooding plains, and have been for possible thousands of years.....so tell us something we dont already know..!!!!

Its how we prepare for it in the future that will count, and to think that Queensland went through a category 5 Cyclone with hardly no casulties shows that people are prepared to evacuate to safe centres and be responsible, and when told to do so.....it will save many lives. Our building code for Cyclone and Bushfire prone area's will toughen up as we learn and move forward as a reasonably new Country.( By World Standards )

Advance Australia fair.....as we say....:>))

OMG Positive thoughts to the familes of these poor souls who are missing.

Thinking of everyone affected by this horrid situation.

Just heard on our news that 2 men are missing .... I think they said in or near Cardwell.

Thank you for posting this, cousin.

Thinking of all affected by this dreadful situation.

Tony,
Do you have any new's on Montville in Queensland please, my cousin live's there.
Thank's for all the update's don't really see it here on my local new's station's.

Pam

update 1:00pm Friday Queensland.

The worst hit areas by Cyclone Yasi are Mission Beach, Tully, Cardwell, Silkwood, Innisfail.

Concerns now are storm surges and flash flooding for most seaside towns along the coast.

CYCLONE Yasi weakened but remained dangerous today as a second major storm surge threatened the north Queensland cities of Cairns and Townsville.

While no lives were lost, reports also began to emerge of severe damage to small coastal communities that bore the brunt of the massive cyclone, which struck overnight with winds of 290km/h.

Cardwell was among the worst hit, with "significant" destruction wreaked on many homes and millions of dollars worth of boats damaged at the nearby Port Hinchinbrook Marina.

Along the north Queensland coast homes were torn apart and crops flattened as the monster storm smashed into the coast at around midnight.

Winds tore off the roofs or damaged up to half the homes in Tully and caused heavy destruction in the nearby resort centre of Mission Beach as it roared across the coast. Innisfail was also hit hard.


The major city of Cairns has escaped to much damage, and people from some evacuation centres have been allowed to return to their homes to access any damage.

No deaths or serious injuries have been reported as yet, but their is still more smaller communities that are still not accessible by the SES or police because of flooding and high winds. Floods are now a major concern.

Many Banana and Sugar plantations have been flattened.
85% of Queenslands Banana crops destroyed...( 200 mil dollars worth )

Many Houses with their roofs ripped completely off in some area's, and many homes,businesses and properties with much structural damage in the main hit area's.

Cyclone Yasi is still moving slowly south-west across the QLD state towards the QLD and Northern Territory border and 390 kms away from the town of Mt. Isa which is on high alert. Yasi Has dropped now to a category 2 and starting to weaken slowly, but is still dangerous as it move towards the west.

Its amazing just how big this cyclone is.

From Mt.Isa toTownsville & Cairns it is a 14hr plus straight drive normally....and the tail end of this cyclone is still hovering over the east coast with heavy downpours and very strong winds.

Tony
Thank you for your updates. It is a terrifying situation there.

All best wishes to the new-born. I hope all has gone well with the delivery.

My thoughts are with you.

Gwyn

we stayed on a property near Tully back in 1976

Hope they're safe

Thursday 6:30 am Queensland.

Our News reports are telling us the townships of Mission Beach, Tully and Innisfail appear to be the worst hit as Australians wake this morning.

According to latest News its to early to access what damage has been done as reports come through from different parts of Queensland.

At 6:30 am ....no deaths have been reported.
No damage has been reported to Evacuation centres.

Cyclone "Yasi" downgraded to catergory 3 as it moves inland.

Amid the chaos and devastation of Cyclone Yasi a baby is being born at a Cairns evacuation centre.

Cairns councillor Linda Cooper said Akiko Pruss went into labour at the evacuation centre at Redlynch State College at 2.45am (AEST).

"She's been in labour for a few hours," she said.

"She's doing really well.

"Today's actually her due date."

Ms Pruss and her husband Christian, live in Cairns, and the baby will be their second child.

An English midwife, called Carol, who is celebrating her 25th wedding anniversary on holidays here, is delivering the baby, Ms Cooper said.

Tony...l can't comprehend what those poor people are going through. Absolutely terryfying.
My thought are with them all, l wish l could help in some way.

jude xx

Hi Huia.
Thoughts for your friends in Townsville.

Apart from force of this Cyclone and the wind speeds of up to 285 kms plus....one of the main worries is the storm surges. These storm surges are monster waves that follow and move with the storm that caused it,and pushing up against the shore as the cyclone moves inland.

Storm surges are expected to reach seven metres in Townsville.

Storm surges three metres above a high tide which is expected to reach four metres, means seven metres of water could be flowing through some suburbs of Townsville later tonight. As of this afternoon there are no vessels currently berthed at the port of Townsville.

It's hoped that the high tide will peak and then go down before the cyclone crosses the coast but if that's not the case, then it's unknown what really could happen but up to 10,000 homes could be inundated according to local authorities.

Yasi's size also means there will be effects a long way inland, with the storm to maintain category three force as it passes over Georgetown - some 300km inland - tomorrow Friday (midday )


Persie. I wouldn't like to living that far up north either.
Well, not during Cyclone season anyway.

We have friends also in MacKay which is in its direct path, and hoping they are safe also.

More than 400,000 people live in the cyclone's expected path, which includes the cities of Cairns, Townsville and Mackay, which are also main tourist areas and take in the Great Barrier Reef.

The military evacuated nearly 40,000 people from low-lying coastal areas overnight on Tuesday.

Those who are staying to ride out the storm in their homes in the Cyclones path, have been told to huddle up in their bathrooms with mattresses, and have been warned not to venture outdoors till midday Friday.

I will be watching the news all night and thinking how fortunate that i live in the South of the country.( Melbourne ) and away from Cyclones.
Although....our own state news is telling us the Gippsland region of Victoria is under bush fire threat as we endure this heat wave,and many fires have sprung up. Then of course we still have our own flooding up north of the state border townships.

Tasmania does appear to be the state to live in, and its climate is similair to the U.K and also New Zealand.

Hi Mau. I think where your friends are living they are not under direct threat from this cyclone, as they are to far down south in QLD state. Worse case scenario for those in the south of Queensland is how much water this Cyclone "Yasi" will dump on Queensland up in the north.
Major flooding again is something they dont really want right now.

I guess...no one really knows what to expect, as no one alive today in Australia has gone through or can explain a catergory 5 cyclone here. Last one ( so they tell us ) was in 1918 and before that 1890s.

Its just a waiting game now.

Hi Tony

After ringing our friends in Queensland without success,I sent a letter (snail-mail they have no internet) and have just received a phone call 9.0am this morning to say that they're okay,but now worrying about the cyclone.
They said where they live they have long periods of drought and then periods of heavy rainfall......before they emigrated grumbled about our cold winter,but, although I love to holiday in the sun, think I prefer our climate....even after having two feet of snow recently!!

Mau

My cousin is in Mt Louisa, in Townsville and I gather Townsville will get a battering. I hope he and his exwife will be safe.

Huia.

I tell you what mate I would not want to be living at Cairns or Innisfail, the storm is coming right at them. I see where Coles Supermarket has great long queues of people waiting to stay in the building. They are doing the list of those booked first. The remainder will get bussed out. It is a mass evacuation which of course leads to looting once again.

I see where a NZ couple just purchased a coffee bar in Cairns yesterday. They said they got insurance cover and were staying put. I don't fancy their chances... bit too optomistic.

The eye of the storm doesn't look as intense as it did the other day in the pictures of the weather maps.... it was windy there earlier but has calmed off a bit like it is getting ready to take a smashing. The CBD is deathly quiet so I do hope everyone is safe.

As you say great place for a holiday (not for a backpacker from the states who has just got over the floods) but not somewhere one would want to live.

Tassie temperatures looking very good...

Persie

we had a small item on this on our evening news .... it looks horrendous.


Meanwhile most of the eastern US and eastern Canada is facing what might be the worst snow storm ever

Places as far south as Dallas Texas are covered with ice.




What is happening with the weather?!




I know .... La Nina is being blamed.