I don't if you people are aware that where Scrub Puller lives there is a cat 5 cyclone bearing down on then with winds around 270km's per hour. It ain't gonna be sexy cause it's going to be uprooting everything. Yair Scrub I hope you get through it OK. For those of you who may be interest check out www.bom.gov.au
Yair . . . Gotcha Tones . Thanks for your thoughts, have to admit is not looking good. We have battened down as much as possible and just have to hope for the best . . . to all other folks in the danger zone (which includes the most populated areas in the state) keep as safe as possible and don't take any risks with floodwaters. Cheers.
Take care Scrub and God Bless.
Yes, take care, Scrub, and everyone else down that way.
Take care Scrub. I always thought this would make a great ongoing thread. HEF members giving a boots on the ground report inside disasters and other newsworthy events. With the reach of the forum we could cover a large part of the world, kind of like the Ham Operators but with pictures Keep us updated if possible Scrub.....some Jim Cantori shots would be great BTW. Jim Cantori is a reporter with the weather channel in the U.S. He is the one who goes where the storm is and reports on its progress for the Weather Channel. Usually outside in it attempting to stand sideways while the wind howls just before it hits reminding everyone of the power in its wake.
Fingers crossed Scrub. Report as soon as you are out of the line of fire
Good luck Scrub. I pray that the storm does not take all the dams out and leave you back in a drought situation again. Above all keep your head down and stay safe. All else but life can can be fixed.
I hope that you can read this after the fact but be safe Scrub and thanks for the heads up Tone.Ron G
Cyclones of this strength are, thankfully, somewhat rare this far south . Also unusual is that Marcia is expected to remain a Cat3 storm for some time after crossing the coast. About 3 to 4 hours to landfall. Another cyclone, Cat 4 "Lam", crossed the Northern Territory coast earlier this morning without, I believe, causing too much destruction.
Thanks for the report. Keep us informed. Are the houses mostly block or concrete along the coast?
Yeah, take care, and God bless. I've been through a cat 5 hurricane, and it ain't fun. The eye was awesome, but not worth going through the rest of it. Scrub, you get back on here as soon as you can, even if it's only to say,"Me and mine are ok". Praying for you, Mitch
Latest reports have it crossing the coast at Shoulwater Bay, which is a large, mostly unpopulated, area used by the military as a training area. Could still be Cat3 when it passes Rockhampton, a large provincial city, slightly inland, that has a large number of typical "Queenslander" style homes. That is, timber houses set on high stumps, built well before cyclone rated building codes were enforced in 1985. Wall to wall reporters in raincoats at the moment. Cheers, Greg
Another update, no reports of damage yet, everyone hunkered down. I've marked my location as well as taking a guess at Scrub's (Iam sure he'll correct me if Iam wrong)
Yair . . . Gotcha Queenslander . I Have just spoken to friends an a brother at Yeppoon . . . blowing hard and the inner circles have not yet reached them, it is not looking good although they are in both in fairly new cyclone rated houses. You are pretty much spot on with our position, we can only hope the bloody thing loses some intensity by the time it gets to us. We are on a low sand ridge with adjacent timber which should give some protection. I have the old open walled shed and workshop so that could be a problem Stay safe mate and Cheers.
All eyes on Rocky at the moment.
Looks like Qld. has escaped any major catastrophe so far. Although traumatic for those involved, houses unroofed number in the tens rather than hundreds, plenty of power lines down and trees blown about and no reports of serious injury yet. Focus now turns to rainfall, with the storm approaching the Burnett River catchment which was the scene of much destruction and heartache only two years ago. BTW, Which part of the Sunshine (LOL) State are you from Tones?
Brisbane Valley and know all about flooding.
Stay safe and God bless our Down Under friends.
Yair. . . It appears there has been considerable damage to centres north of us and we are awaiting reports about the failure of gates on a dam which may have affected a couple of small towns. Over all though, as Queenslander reported upthread it could have been much worse considering the system crossed the coast as a Cat.5. As always with these events it is a roll of the dice and in this case the storm came ashore in a (relatively) sparsely populated area and had weakened somewhat before it got to major centres . . . it also moved fairly quickly which meant that structures were subjected to sustained winds for a shorter period of time. As for ourselves we got about six inches of rain and a bit of damage to fences from falling branches. . . trust much the same for you Queenslander ? Thanks to Tones for opening the thread, Queenslander for the BOM cyclone tracks and all those who followed the thread and thought or posted concern about our welfare in what could have been a much more serious situation. Cheers.
I think that plays a big part in the amount of damage inflicted. They say Darwin's Cyclone Tracey was only Cat4, but the bloody thing took nearly half the night to pass over and absolutely devastated the place. 3 inches of rain here overnight, no wind at all, 10 inches not far away on the Burnett resulting in moderate flooding but overall a good result for such a big storm. Cheers, Greg
It's good to know you got through it ok. The tail end of the system arrived here about 2hrs ago, and no winds yet, ripper!
Good to hear everyone's OK.
Glad you all made it thru unscathed. But if you go play in the mud, don't forget pictures.
Good to see it wasn't as bad as it was predicted. Hurricane season is around the corner for us in the Gulf State area, it's always a toss up. A question for our friends down under, when these cyclones come on shore do they spawn tornados like they do here? The tornados can be way more devastating in my area than than the hurricane itself but I live a couple 100 miles inland. The hurricanes wreak havoc on the coastal areas.
Yair . . . CM1995. Just lately there has been discussion about that happening . . . it certainly is not common but there have been some documented cases of small tornados. We too are about an hour from the coast . . . one of our criteria when we bought the place was to cut down on exposure. We lived on the Gulf Coast for many years and it always was a worry. Cheers.
Well, it's not mud but.....I couldn't resist. Apologies to northerners in sub zero temps! [
That gives me the fever.I just rebuilt my Glastron JetFlite and had about a weeks worth of work left when I got sick.I sure hope I can get it back in the water before my days are done.Glad to hear that there was minimal damage in the path of the storm where our friends live.Ron G
Gees Scrub, according to the media its starting to be all to familiar, a-la 2011 Wivenhoe Dam.
Me to Ron, mines been parked for six years. Every time I intend to get it going the POS machine I own breaks down a gobbles up the boat funds.:Banghead
Yair . . . Tones . Queenslander Update. In my #19 post I was just quoting what appeared on the media. Since then I have made contact with my brother in Yeppoon and he reckons it's a bloody disaster and they are estimating fifty million dollars damage in the Yeppoon village and three billion for Rockampton and the Livingstone Shire. I wonder why I bother with TV sometimes. Cheers.
If it's like in the US, if it didn't happen in a major city, it didn't happen.
That's why I like getting my information from someone with boots on the ground.....
I'd have to agree with that, and also correct the statement I made on the afternoon of the cyclone, when I said the number of houses unroofed numbered in the tens, not hundreds. News reports are now saying there are more than 500 homes around Yeppoon and Rocky that have been declared uninhabitable. Adding to the misery up there, is the difficulty restoring power to thousands of homes and businesses. Still no reports of serious injuries, that Iam aware of, so that's one good thing to come out of it all. Cheers, Greg
Yair . . . Gotcha Queenslander . You have to wonder about Byfield and folks in the bush north of Yeppoon, not a word about their plight. It is remarkable that no injuries have been reported. Cheers.
Reports last night that Byfield is smashed ( first ones in where ABC reporters "apparently") to bits and they are not getting any help. It also means I guess the forestry in that area will be buggered so after the cleanup is done their jobs are gone
No apologizes necessary. We like the 4 seasons but we can look at warm anytime. I am happy you got some fun in.
I am up the road a bit from Scrubpuller ,we did not get any damage here ,thankfully . Yesterday i took a skidsteer up to my sisters place at Gracemere ,a little west of Rockhampton.She did not get damage to the house but did have tree branchescome down on shed sand stables ,and a fair few trees on the ground. Heading up the highwaysaw lots of trees uprooted or just broken off .Each of the small towns up the highway showed damage to house roofs and sheds .Town of Marmoor seemed worst hit ,the Servo {gas station** had the roof over the pumps collapse. Most of the Yeppoon and Rockhampton Area are without power, They have restored power to the water treament works,and the major shopping centres .But outlying areas like my sisters place have been told 2 weeks before power is restored . . I did not go driving about, ,the streets i drove though to get to my sisters showed mainly trees down . Coming home saw lots of big Generators heading up the highway ..Not sure how they got though as the Higway is Cut futher south at Gympie . The Highway west from Gladstone out to Biloelais cut with approaches to a bridge washed away .
Yair . . . Tones. I missed that report on Byfield, poor buggers your heart goes out to them. ianoz . Good to hear you came through okay mate . . . good to hear some fair dinkum reports. As mentioned up thread by one of our US friends, unless it's in a major city it tends to be glossed over by the media. Cheers.
Some photos from Rocky/Yeppoon area . http://www.9news.com.au/national/2015/02/20/11/05/cyclone-marcia-in-photos-and-video
Looks like these small outlying communities are some of the hardest hit. Town wiped off the map after Tropical Cyclone Marcia By Lisa Clarke Forty-five kilometres south of Rockhampton along the Bruce Highway, the tiny central Queensland town of Marmor was all but wiped off the map when Tropical Cyclone Marcia swept through. Residents say all the attention is focused on Rockhampton and Yeppoon and no one even realises the destruction they have experienced. Karen Johnson and her partner Robert Holness huddled in the laundry of their home for hours as it was torn apart around them. A few mangled internal walls are all that still stands; the remnants of their 100-year-old home and many of their personal belongings are strewn across the surrounding fields. Karen says the experience was harrowing. "It was coming across the flat sideways, pieces of iron flipping through the paddock," she recalls. "The roof was vibrating... the front door kept swinging open, we ended up nailing it shut. "All of a sudden the panels here blew out and gusts of wind were blowing through the roof." When it was finally safe to come out of the laundry, Karen says she couldn't believe what she saw. "It was heartbreaking... I actually broke down," she says. "Some of my Grandmother's stuff is here. "As long as we're alive and we're ok, we can rebuild." Karen's partner Robert says the destruction in Marmor has been extreme. "There are probably 30 houses here, probably half of them have lost roofs," he says. - Story by Amy McCosker, rural reporter for ABC Capricorn Marmor QLD 4702