Queensland battered by category 5 cyclone. by Philip Avery
The strongest cyclone ever to be seen in Queensland slammed into the state’s far north last night, causing widespread damage and destruction.
Cyclone Larry was packed with winds up to 180mph when it made landfall near Innisfail, making it a category 5 storm. The winds tore roofs off houses, uprooted trees and forced thousands of people to evacuate their homes.
The surrounding areas, just south of Cairns also bore the brunt of the storm. Power-lines were brought down in mile stretches, leaving up to 50,000 homes without electricity. Major highways were blocked with fallen trees and buildings were severely damaged, some completely demolished. Around 90% of the regions banana crops have also been destroyed causing millions of dollars worth of damage.
Thankfully though there are no reports of life-threatening injuries to the residents.
Tropical Cyclone Larry is believed to be the strongest cyclone to hit Australia since 1974. The storm has now moved further inland and is heading west towards less populated areas. Without the fuel of the warm ocean, it is now weakening but winds up to 80mph can still be expected.
However, the people of Queensland are not out of the woods just yet, another tropical storm, named Wati, is currently situated out in the southern Pacific Ocean, just east of Innisfail. This storm has current wind speeds of 65mph, but forecasters are hopeful that the storm will change course and move back out to sea again. Watch this space.
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