Cyclone Yasi has crossed the coast of North Queensland near Mission Beach, arriving around midnight local time on Wednesday, Feb. 2, according to the Bureau of Meteorology (BOM).
Yasi is still a category 5 storm with a large destructive core around the eye, which extends about 80 kilometers (40 miles) from Innisfail to Cardwell, BOM said in its latest warning.
In the sugar town of Tully, about 25 kilometers (15.5 miles) inland, some houses had lost their roofs, and power poles were down before the eye of the cyclone had finished passing.
“It is just a scene of mass devastation,” Cassowary Coast Mayor Ross Sorbello told AP. “[Cyclone] Larry was a boy compared to this.
Cyclone Larry, which struck the region in 2006, caused $1.5 billion in damage and affected around 10,000 homes.
Cyclone Yasi is traveling west-southwest at around 30 kilometers per hour (18.6 mph), and the very destructive core of the cyclone will take up to four hours to pass, with winds gusting up to 290 kilometers per hour (180 mph).
BOM warned that higher than normal tides above the high water mark will continue at least until Thursday morning’s high tide with extremely dangerous waves.
Queensland Premier Anna Bligh said at a briefing that locals can expect “a tough 24 hours,” adding that a giant nine-metre (30-foot) wave had been recorded off the coast.
Yasi is still a category 5 storm with a large destructive core around the eye, which extends about 80 kilometers (40 miles) from Innisfail to Cardwell, BOM said in its latest warning.
In the sugar town of Tully, about 25 kilometers (15.5 miles) inland, some houses had lost their roofs, and power poles were down before the eye of the cyclone had finished passing.
“It is just a scene of mass devastation,” Cassowary Coast Mayor Ross Sorbello told AP. “[Cyclone] Larry was a boy compared to this.
Cyclone Larry, which struck the region in 2006, caused $1.5 billion in damage and affected around 10,000 homes.
Cyclone Yasi is traveling west-southwest at around 30 kilometers per hour (18.6 mph), and the very destructive core of the cyclone will take up to four hours to pass, with winds gusting up to 290 kilometers per hour (180 mph).
BOM warned that higher than normal tides above the high water mark will continue at least until Thursday morning’s high tide with extremely dangerous waves.
Queensland Premier Anna Bligh said at a briefing that locals can expect “a tough 24 hours,” adding that a giant nine-metre (30-foot) wave had been recorded off the coast.
