I hope that our friends down under are all right.
Cyclone leaves hundreds homeless in Australia
Last Updated Mon, 20 Mar 2006 12:44:36 EST
CBC News
A cyclone that ripped across parts of the northeast Australian state of Queensland on Sunday has left hundreds of people homeless and thousands without electricity, local government officials said Monday.
Police say more than half of the homes in Innisfail, a coastal town of 8,500, were destroyed.
Mayor Neil Clarke said on Monday he didn't know how many people are in need of shelter. Tents have been set up at the Innisfail airport to serve as emergency shelters.
"This is not only a disaster for the environment, for the structural buildings of places, but it's an economic disaster as well," Clarke said.
Cyclone Larry hit the north coast with winds approaching 300 kilometres an hour, damaging houses, uprooting large trees, knocking down kilometres of powerlines, and devastating the region's banana and sugar-farming industry.
Mike Keating, a police official in the coastal city of Cairns, said the destruction across the region hit is a "horrendous sight,'' with houses reduced to rubble.
Emergency services say they are amazed at the small number of casualties reported. About a dozen people, including one woman who was struck by flying glass, were reported hurt, but their injuries were considered minor.
Premier Peter Beattie of Queensland state declared a state of emergency.
"It's the worst cyclone we've had in decades," he said.
Prime Minister John Howard promised to send any assistance necessary in response to the cyclone, including army helicopters.
The state government of Queensland and the federal government are co-operating closely to deal with the situation, he said.
"This is certainly a very fearful and challenging time for the people of far north Queensland," he said.
"I want them to know that their fellow Australians are with them, and will respond in an appropriate fashion to any request for help."
By Monday, the cyclone had been downgraded to a category-three system and was heading inland, with gale-force winds still lashing parts of the state.
http://www.cbc.ca/story/world/nation...vastation.html