First floods, now a cyclone for Queensland, Australia!
@RawBill1 (8531)
Gold Coast, Australia
February 1, 2011 3:13am CST
Well, we are still mopping up from the recent flooding in Queensland, not in my city or me personally, but most areas along the coast were hit pretty badly recently. Two thirds of the state were affected.
Now there is a huge tropical cyclone off the coast of Northern Queensland which is predicted to hit sometime late tomorrow. (February 2nd) The forecast is for winds around 260 plus kilometres an hour! That is around 175 miles an hour! They are predicting that it will be as powerful as Hurricane Katrina that hit the USA a few years ago! 
The area likely to be hit is also massive. An area of coastline 460 kilometres long looks to be in the firing line of this storm. That is nearly the length of Britain! The good news is that my part of Queensland is too far south to be seriously affected by this storm. We will get some high winds and some rain, but hopefully it will not be too bad here. Some of the areas that were recently affected by flooding are going to get more heavy rain and those incredibly strong winds to the already devastated area. 
I heard some people in these areas talking on the radio earlier and they said that there was an eerie calm as they wait for the cyclone to hit. There is not a breath of wind and there are no birds anywhere. It is incredible how animals know when bad weather is approaching.
What else can nature throw at us here? 
The area likely to be hit is also massive. An area of coastline 460 kilometres long looks to be in the firing line of this storm. That is nearly the length of Britain! The good news is that my part of Queensland is too far south to be seriously affected by this storm. We will get some high winds and some rain, but hopefully it will not be too bad here. Some of the areas that were recently affected by flooding are going to get more heavy rain and those incredibly strong winds to the already devastated area.
I heard some people in these areas talking on the radio earlier and they said that there was an eerie calm as they wait for the cyclone to hit. There is not a breath of wind and there are no birds anywhere. It is incredible how animals know when bad weather is approaching.
What else can nature throw at us here? 4 people like this
6 responses
@ANTIQUELADY (36440)
• United States
1 Feb 11
HI BILL, Mother nature has really been showing her strenth everywhere, I'm sorry to hear y'all are having more horrible weather. I hope it want be as bad as predicted. Glad u & your family will not be in the worst of it. I think someone used the expression to mother nature 'to show them what u have got' & she is. Stay safe.
@ANTIQUELADY (36440)
• United States
2 Feb 11
HI BILL, glad y'all are safe from the storm. We have lucked up this week & haven't had any snow, thank heavens, hope it last. It rained all day yesterday & we had alot of wind ourselves last night. I was so afraid the rain would start freezing but thankful it sisn't. They are really getting the bad weather in some states for sure here. One girl i talk to on mylot said they had 15" of snow. hope she keeps it up there, lol. Have a good one.
@ANTIQUELADY (36440)
• United States
4 Feb 11
Thank u, Glad y'all didn't get that bad wind. Got out today & went to the grocery because they are predicting snow for tomorrow. Do u watch the super bowl? There is a hometown boy on the packers team so i'm rooting for then.
@Janey1966 (24170)
• Carlisle, England
1 Feb 11
As soon as I read on my Yahoo homepage about the upcoming storm to hit Australia I thought of you and my Aussie friends. My first reaction was "Oh, sh*t!" which is probably what a lot of Aussies are muttering to themselves right now.
When will it all end? There's also a massive snowstorm that is going to affect 100 million of US residents. It certainly puts our recent cold snap into perspective..relatively tame compared to what those two great nations have had to endure lately.
Keep safe!
When will it all end? There's also a massive snowstorm that is going to affect 100 million of US residents. It certainly puts our recent cold snap into perspective..relatively tame compared to what those two great nations have had to endure lately.
Keep safe!@Janey1966 (24170)
• Carlisle, England
2 Feb 11
Frightening stuff. I'm so annoyed that it's not even been mentioned on the news. It's all about Egypt at the moment.
I'm more concerned about Oz and US citizens if I'm being honest. I know that's selfish of me but we're obsessed by the weather over here and if it doesn't affect us then it hardly gets reported from elsewhere.
I'm so annoyed that it's not even been mentioned on the news. It's all about Egypt at the moment. I'm more concerned about Oz and US citizens if I'm being honest. I know that's selfish of me but we're obsessed by the weather over here and if it doesn't affect us then it hardly gets reported from elsewhere.@Janey1966 (24170)
• Carlisle, England
11 Mar 11
What, you mean the latest one in Japan? Terrible, isn't it? I really think the whole world is literally falling apart.
@derek_a (10874)
•
1 Feb 11
I can really feel for all you guys out there. This past few years everything seems to be coming at once. First the world recession then extreme weather conditions. Although not comparison to you in Australia, our winter seems to have been very long this year with record freezing conditions. I hope things are not so bad as predicted out there and that things settle down soon.. _Derek
_Derek
@RawBill1 (8531)
• Gold Coast, Australia
2 Feb 11
We are safe here Jen, Queensland is a huge state, so we in the south will only get some rough seas and a little wind and rain. I am looking forward to the wind actually as it is incredibly humid and hot right now. A bizarre stillness is in the air!
Animals are incredible. We too should have those abilities, but most of us have lost them as we have removed ourselves from nature over generations. I have friends who have lived secluded in wild areas who have more of an animal instinct when it comes to weather and other subconscious things. One can sense when my wife is about to drop in unexpectedly. Just like how you hear about dogs who know that their owner is about to come home! 
@veganbliss (3895)
• Adelaide, Australia
2 Feb 11
Just upgraded to category 5. That's the highest it can get. There's no telling what the bugger will do from here on in. It could die out a little once it hits land or get much worse, growing bigger & stronger as it moves inland like the last big one to hit the area. All the hospitals & most of the population have been evacuated by plane. Another kick in the guts for our economy. I hope everyone gets out of the way soon enough. Hope Moonchild is okay up there. Animals do know when adverse weather is approaching - not only that, but the exact type & severity & where is safe to run to. They can see it. We could too if we bothered to cultivate ourselves. It's the animals in captivity that worry me. Stay safe, people!
@RawBill1 (8531)
• Gold Coast, Australia
4 Feb 11
That sort of dehydrator is probably best used as a paper weight anyway! 
Yeah, that is sad that they hiked the prices so quickly. It was obvious that they were going to be destroyed, but at least they had a bit of warning this time. I heard a guy on ABC radio this morning saying that farmers were able to plan a bit better for this one. Not sure if that meant they were able to madly pick more than last time?
Yeah, that is sad that they hiked the prices so quickly. It was obvious that they were going to be destroyed, but at least they had a bit of warning this time. I heard a guy on ABC radio this morning saying that farmers were able to plan a bit better for this one. Not sure if that meant they were able to madly pick more than last time?@veganbliss (3895)
• Adelaide, Australia
2 Feb 11
Bananas! I saw it on the news... $15.99 a kilogram! Some lucky bugger is doing alright out of that one! I doubt if there will be a banana shortage; we'll just get undersized ones from the Northern Territory like we did last time Queensland's banana crop was wiped out. We haven't seen any price rises for fresh produce here yet. I'm surprised to see a few QLD organic farmers are still supplying our markets with fresh organic fruit & vegetables.
If you're really stuck for a dehydrator, you can use ours... it's still in the box! I think my wife just bought it because she liked the idea of owning one.
Maybe they should start thinking about emptying Wivenhoe dam now?
@RawBill1 (8531)
• Gold Coast, Australia
2 Feb 11
It is still early morning here, the sun is just coming up, but the damage will not be widely known for some hours yet as people will still not be able to go outside for a while yet. Too dangerous still.
@RawBill1 (8531)
• Gold Coast, Australia
4 Feb 11
The clean up has begun and although hundreds of people are now homeless and many more hundreds or thousands have damaged homes, there have officially been no deaths or serious injuries reported yet. The organisation of the evacuation and bunkering down leading up to the event was obviously incredibly well managed, which has saved many lives. One person is missing though and it is still too soon for all reports to have come in as heavy rain is still falling and flooding these areas.
