Cyclone Helen Approaches

[Jared Archibald]

G'day everyone,
currently sitting in the Darwin rural area awaiting the arrival of Cyclone Helen - Catergory 2 at the moment.
We have been getting heavy monsoonal rain periods with gusts up to 40-50km/hr with the rain. It has just finished pouring but we will get another arm of rain coming through soon. The cyclone is expected to make landfall late tonight-early tomorrow around 150km southeast of here. This is the prediction but anything could happen.
Chained down the tin covering the carrier hulls, and then set about doing everything else that needed doing in readiness for the blow.
Will keep you posted - power and Internet connections willing,
Jared

Back up again and deecided to check the latest news about the cyclone as no updates from Jared as yet ... I hope all is well where he is .....

There is a pic of flooding and some videos at the site:

http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2...section=justin

The wild weather lashing NSW is expected to continue overnight. (AAP: Mel Pocknall)

Video: NSW floodwaters continue to rise (ABC News) Video: SE Qld hit by heaviest rains in years (ABC News) Map: Lismore 2480
Related Story: Warwick on flood alert Related Story: Flood warnings still current on parts of NSW coast The New South Wales State Emergency Services (SES) are preparing for a long night, as the north coast of the state continues to be battered by severe weather.

The wild weather lashing the region is expected to continue overnight, with rivers in Lismore and Casino expected to peak about 9:00pm AEDT.

SES spokesman Darren Winkler says campers at several caravan parks have been evacuated.

He says the clean-up operation at Kyogle, where 150 people were evacuated this morning, is underway.

"At this stage Kyogle has passed the moderate peak level - or the peak of the river - so the clean-up operation, or the response to those jobs associated with the peak, are attended to now," Mr Winkler said.

"However, we are still waiting for the Wilson's River to peak at Lismore, and also the Richmond River to peak at Casino, which are both expected to peak at 9:00pm tonight."

He says crews have been working nonstop.

"We've had to deploy several crews from out of area - including from the Sydney region the exact number I wouldn't know - but we are constantly bringing these crews in," he said.

"Some of the volunteers are doing long hours, but we are looking at their welfare in bringing fresh crews in."


Disaster declared

Parts of northern New South Wales affected by the severe weather were declared natural disaster zones earlier today.

State Emergency Services Minister Nathan Rees visited the region and says the situation is serious.

"We've declared natural disaster area for the Kyogle and Tweed Shire areas and the flooding up here has been extensive, the rain has been absolutely torrential," Mr Rees said.

A major flood warning is still in place for the village of Coraki, where the Richmond River is expected to peak at about six o'clock tomorrow night.

The rain has forced the closure of several major roads, including the Pacific Highway at south Grafton.


Queensland floods

Meanwhile, authorities are monitoring the Albert and Logan Rivers just south of Brisbane where floodwaters are rising quickly.

On the Albert River a flood peak of about 10 metres is expected downstream at Wolffdene before 9:00pm AEST.

Further downstream there is expected to be moderate flooding when the river peaks at 5.5 metres at Beenleigh between midnight and three o'clock tomorrow morning.

On the Logan River, flooding is also expected in the Beaudesert area tonight and tomorrow morning near Maclean Bridge.

The flood threat appears to have eased at Warwick south-west of Brisbane.

Authorities feared the worst this morning after forecasters predicted the Condamine River could peak at seven metres causing moderate to major flooding in the township.

SES crews answered 132 calls for assistance after heavy rains fell across the Gold Coast and Beaudesert regions overnight.

The Queensland Fire and Rescue Service and Surf Life Saving Queensland rescued 10 people whose cars became stranded by flash flooding on the Gold Coast.

[Jared Archibald]

G'day again everyone,
as many of you will know by now, Cyclone Helen has made landfall, moved across the Top End as a rain depression, and is now in the Gulf of Carpentaria threatening the Queensland coast.

Friday night was wet and very windy. We were getting huge gusts of wind right through the night, peaking around 2-3 am. It is amazing the sound these make - you can hear them coming before they hit - sort of like an approaching train. Lots of defoliation of the trees and branches down. We had one huge eucalypt snap about 6m from the ground and crash down onto a car and an FWD truck . Amazingly, there was not much damage - the Statesman was impaled through the grille vent in front of the windscreen with almost no other damage being done. The truck received a badly bent RH guard. Spent all day yesterday cutting up trees and cleaning up.
Power was out for 12 hours and we still have no phones, but the internet is working for some reason - hence this update.

We went to Darwin this morning and the damage there is much more severe.(We are 35 km inland and the winds begin to diminish the further inland they go). No building damage but large numbers of huge uprooted trees, many blocking streets completely, power lines down, and branches and green leaf litter everywhere. All in all, we were very happy that it didn't hit Darwin directly and that it was not any stronger.

I have some images that I will try and post later,

Jared