Cyclone Yasi, described by a local Bureau of Meteorology spokesman on breakfast TV this morning as “One of the biggest buggers ever“, is going to hit Queensland late Wednesday night, or early Thursday morning (GMT + 10).
Current aiming for North Queensland, it’s so large that it could have some effect on all coastal areas of the State. Cyclones can change direction without warning, so it’s quite possible it could actually hit 22 kms north of Brisbane, in South East Queensland.
A category 4 cyclone will destroy everything in its path until it gets sufficiently inland, where it dissipates.
If we had a bunker, we’d be in it; as it is, we’ll keep our fingers crossed.
Boadicea's Chariot 
Yes, it sounds awful, and potentially worse than anything so far.
I do hope it veers off course, Bearsy, but best to be prepared. Good luck!
Opps, well not off course as far as Brisbane is concerned, that it is!
Wherever it hits it will be pretty catastrophic but it would be good it it didn’t affect the area already inundated.
We shall do our best, but frankly there’s not a lot we can do apart from bringing the patio furniture indoors – and hoping! 🙂
We’ll keep our fingers crossed that it veers off course out to sea. An old friend is on her way just now to visit her family in Queensland.
Here’s to hoping that it manages to skirt in-between Australia and Papua-New Guinea without causing any serious harm.
Thinking of you and for all of Melanesia. Good luck.
OZ
Having been some through these and tornadoes in the Gulf may I offer the following suggestions.
If you are not prepared to evacuate.
Bring in any garden furniture, hanging baskets, garbage cans etc etc into the garage, anything that is not bolted down!
Prepare an area to the West side of your house (inside), drag a sturdy table to an outside wall, try to put something solid to the East side of the table, leave some cushions under there for comfort and a duvet to go over you for flying glass. Pull all curtains for flying glass protection. i presume your house is made of wood? They tend to collapse into parallelograms, so the downwind side is generally safest. If there is any masonry cladding, avoid that room like the plague. If you actually have a masonry house, evacuate.
If and as you get a direct hit, dive under table with well charged mobile phone and bloody stay there until it all passes by.
I used to line the bath with a piece of foam put the boy in when an infant and cover the bath with a piece of plywood cut to shape. Not that we ever took a direct hit but lost the garbage can once, never to be seen again!
Apologies if this is a sucking eggs exercise, but not everyone knows what to do.
http://www.bom.gov.au/products/IDQ65002.shtml
Sorry its not live, but this site of the Aussie met office gives the trajectory, passing well to the North of you. Good site.
No probs with sucking eggs, Christina; we do know, thanks, but it never hurts to be reminded. 🙂
Probably the only thing you missed out is – if all else fails, stand in a doorway! Lives have been saved by that simple expedient.
In Darwin (NT), since Tracey, everyone one has (by law) a cyclone bunker (which may be a specially strengthened bathroom), or a place allocated in a nearby public one, so I would expect that the same rules apply in the Cairns area.
I’m not really expecting Yasi to veer this far south (we’re over 1,500 kms from Cairns – Queensland is big), but stranger things have been known. The TV and local radio keep us well supplied with BuMet maps, updates and advice, and if one’s in a serious target area one will receive an evacuation notice by radio, phone and SMS, and the SES will be in touch.
Thanks, anyway! 🙂
Saw Yasi on a CNN weather update two nights ago.
It could well be the ‘end of the world’ for some, good luck to any in it’s path.
If all else fails, get in the Tub 😦
Batten down the hatches – having lived through one when living on the 9th floor of Borrett Mansions in Mid-levels,Hongkong (four hundred feet above the harbour) it was unreal watching whole trees flying past the verandah. We had enough time to fix the cyclone shutters to stop the picture windows being sucked out, and us, with them – here’s hoping you escape with minimal damage, if it does come anywhere near you. We have friends in Buddina and Manly, closer to Brisbane, but both on the coast – I hope they have their cameras charged!
There is some good advice in these comments but I guess you are up to speed, I’m sure the ‘Digger’ spirit will shine through, good luck and keep your heads down.
Bearsy: Best wishes for this one, it looks like it’s going to make a mess of some of the barrier reef area wherever it comes ashore.