Ingrid threatens land for the third time by Elizabeth Saary
I mentioned yesterday that we had not heard the last from Tropical Cyclone Ingrid yet and that is indeed the case. She has stormed back into the headlines once again as a Category Five cyclone.
The story of Ingrid is turning into quite an epic. She first developed into a tropical cyclone out in the Coral Sea to the east of Queensland. There she gained strength and briefly became a Category Five cyclone – the highest category reserved only for the most powerful storms.
By the time Ingrid made landfall in Queensland she had been downgraded slightly to Category Four but was nevertheless still the most powerful storm to hit Queensland for more than thirty years. Fortunately the path that Ingrid cut through the Cape York Peninsula meant that only quite sparsely populated areas were affected.
As is often the case with these storms, Ingrid lost a lot of her power over land and by the time she reached the Gulf of Carpentaria she had been reduced to Category One. Once over the open water though she soon picked up wind speed and reached Category Five again by the time she brushed across the Top End of the Northern Territory where the severe winds caused a lot of damage in the Tipi Islands to the north of Darwin.
Ingrid is now out in open water once again – this time in the Timor Sea and she continues to keep us on our toes. In the past day or so, since reaching the sea again she has wavered between Categories Four and Five and is currently producing some very strong wind speeds with gusts up to 185mph (300km/h). Ingrid is now heading southwards towards the northern coast of Western Australia.
At the moment, the forecast is for Ingrid to hit land at full strength sometime today. People in the area have had plenty of warning and are said to be prepared. Some have been evacuated whilst others are staying on to try and protect property and possessions as much as possible. So far the damage caused by Ingrid to northern and eastern parts of Australia has not been too extensive and there are no reported deaths or injuries. As she prepares to strike land for the third time, let’s hope it stays that way.
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