Queensland towns batten down as Cyclone Ului looms
Posted by
hanna on 3/17/2010, 2:43 pm
EVACUATIONS were under way last night as Queensland's central coast went on the alert for a monster cyclone packing winds of more than 200km/h.
Residents of the already-drenched region were urged to make preparations for a cyclone, and authorities met to finalise disaster management plans.
Almost 300 people, including holidaymakers and reef researchers, returned to the mainland from Heron and Lady Elliot islands yesterday morning as the slow-moving system hovered more than 1000km off the coast.
Category-four cyclone Ului, unleashing destructive winds of up to 225km/h, has blasted past the Solomon Islands and Fiji.
If it stays on its current track, the storm will slam into the Queensland central coast on the weekend between Gladstone and Mackay.
Residents south of the Sunshine Coast to the NSW border were also advised to prepare their properties and stock up on non-perishable supplies, water and medication.
Weather forecaster Terry Erb said the system would increase its speed towards the coast tomorrow.
"We expect it to remain the same intensity (as it moves).
"On about Friday we expect to see it take on a west to southwest direction and accelerate towards the Queensland coast," he said.
Swells of up to 10m are expected and yesterday there were waves of almost 5m off Mackay.
Mackay councillor George Christiansen said the city's counter-disaster committee was on standby after flash floods shocked residents in 2008.
The weather bureau issued a high-seas warning for the Coral Sea area.Premier Anna Bligh said councils were ready to activate their disaster management plans if Ului swept in.
"All local councils have a disaster management plan which they can activate in a very, very short time frame once they know this cyclone may be heading in their direction," Ms Bligh said yesterday. |
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In this thread:
Ului could pack a punch when landfalls in Queensland -
JAC,
3/17/2010, 7:44 am- Re-intensified to Cat 1 at Landfall - JAC, 3/20/2010, 2:50 pm
- Funktop Satellite Loop of Ului..... - chucky7777, 3/20/2010, 3:20 am
- Radar loop of Ului's approach to the area of landfall - chucky7777, 3/20/2010, 3:01 am
- Looks more like a slap now - core dropped into boundary layer - JAC, 3/19/2010, 8:04 am
- satellite loop.... - chucky7777, 3/19/2010, 7:39 am
- Final preparations for Ului underway - JAC, 3/19/2010, 6:44 am
- Cyclone Ului to re-intensify - JAC, 3/18/2010, 7:13 am
- Jac - hanna, 3/18/2010, 11:09 am
- Residents of Queensland, Australia Watching Cyclone Ului Approaching - JAC, 3/17/2010, 5:01 pm
- Queensland towns batten down as Cyclone Ului looms - hanna, 3/17/2010, 2:43 pm
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