Coffee Club manager Karen Heller tapes the windows of her Townsville store yesterday. Picture: Lyndon Mechielsen Source: The Australian
Source: The Australian
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SUBURBS and hospitals in Cairns were being emptied last night in a mass flight from the "deadly" power of tropical Cyclone Yasi, as it began lashing the far north Queensland coast.
In unprecedented scenes, the RAAF laid on medically equipped aircraft to spearhead an airlift of 255 hospital patients to Brisbane, while police prepared to enforce the mandatory evacuation of up to 9000 people from low-lying parts of Cairns.
Late last night, Cairns Mayor Val Schier said 30,000 people had been asked to leave their homes in the region; evacuation centres would be open today to accommodate those who could not find shelter with friends or relatives.
Others living in the sugar town of Innisfail and communities in the path of the massive category 4 cyclone were told they would be moved out of the danger zone whether they wanted to go or not.
Anna Bligh warned the "potentially deadly" impact of the cyclone's 225km/h-plus winds was compounded by the ocean storm surge it would unleash, possibly flooding low-lying areas. The homes of 9000 people around the Cairns CBD and thickly populated northern beaches precinct could be submerged when the cyclone strikes early tomorrow, lifting the sea level up to 2.5m above the high-tide mark.
Renewing her warning to people to leave waterfront and exposed areas while they could, the Premier said conditions would deteriorate sharply from 8am today, when the coast closest to the cyclone would be lashed by gales of up to 100km/h. This could make roads impassable. "I don't want to frighten people, or panic them, but all the information I'm getting is that we are facing a potentially very deadly event," Ms Bligh said. "We have to make sure everybody knows what's in front of them so they can prepare themselves."
The cyclone continued to intensify yesterday. By the time it crosses the coast about 1am local time tomorrow, within 50km of Cairns, the system is forecast to pack winds averaging up to 225km/h and gusting to 280km/h.
Police and SES crews were last night doorknocking homes in Cairns to enforce mandatory evacuation orders. There were no reports of resistance as The Australian went to press.
Federal Attorney-General Robert McClelland yesterday activated national disaster arrangements for the air force to co-ordinate the evacuation of patients from the Cairns Base Hospital and Cairns Private Hospital.
Intensive-care patients, heavily pregnant women, new mothers, babies and heart-attack victims were among the 255 people who were carefully strapped into seats and stretchers in the mercy dash last night.
The fleet included a massive RAAF Globemaster transport aircraft, capable of lifting a 60-tonne tank. A specially fitted out Hercules was being loaded, alongside Royal Flying Doctor Service and Queensland government planes.
Hospital space in Brisbane was being cleared to receive the evacuees. With fears that the waterfront site of Cairns Base Hospital would go underwater in the storm surge, an emergency ward was being set up at a sports centre on higher ground.
Mr McClelland echoed Ms Bligh's appeal for people to take the "life-threatening" cyclone seriously. "All the signs are that this will be an extremely severe weather event," he said.
"The government urges residents in communities in far north Queensland, north Queensland and central Queensland to listen to the advice of authorities and treat the cyclone threat as extremely serious - residents should be taking all precautions, including stocking up on essential items."
The cyclone front was more than 500km wide, and its eye 100km in diameter as it advanced on the north Queensland coast.
Ms Bligh said Cairns, with its population of 165,000, was set to be the main centre affected. But Townsville, 350km to the south, would be blasted by winds of up to 125km/h - the equivalent of a category 2 storm.
More than 300 schools will close today and ports between Cairns and Mackay have ceased operation. Rio Tinto and Xstrata shut down some coalmines in central Queensland and bulk rail freight company QR National suspended services.
Thousands of people are believed to have heeded the call to leave vulnerable areas.
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