scrawni

Bix are you and the family somewhere safe? Thinking of you all.

Bix

Snuggled up at home thanks Mandy.
Not long now.

Pollyana

Don't let that wind ruffle your mane now Bixie. Stay safe mate


And can we have a write-up afterwards a la Larry?!!!

Pollyana

At 4:00 pm EST Severe Tropical Cyclone Yasi, Category 5 was estimated to be 250 kilometres east of Cairns and 275 kilometres north northeast of Townsville and moving west southwest at 35 kilometres per hour.

SEVERE TROPICAL CYCLONE YASI IS A LARGE AND VERY POWERFUL TROPICAL CYCLONE AND POSES AN EXTREMELY SERIOUS THREAT TO LIFE AND PROPERTY WITHIN THE WARNING AREA, ESPECIALLY BETWEEN CAIRNS AND TOWNSVILLE.

DURING THE EVENING, THE VERY DESTRUCTIVE CORE OF CYCLONE YASI WILL CROSS THE COAST BETWEEN CAIRNS AND INGHAM, ACCOMPANIED BY A DANGEROUS STORM TIDE SOUTH OF THE CYCLONE CENTRE.

Tropical Cyclone Yasi, CATEGORY 5, will continue to move in a west-southwesterly direction. The cyclone is expected to cross the coast between Innisfail and Cardwell about 11 pm EST.

itigo

Thinking of all you guys up there, hope you all stay safe. xx

Kooky.

Polly, I haven't had time today to keep up with it all so apologies if it's been covered but do you have any info on the effect on Fiji, the Solomons, PNG?

You're doing a great job of keeping us informed - thanks. x

Pollyana

I haven't heard anything, been asleep all day as i'm on nights at present. I know we had nothing at 6.45 this morning when I left work. Best thing to do is track down the main internet news pages for those countries. If I get anything in tonight i'll try and post it for you

Kooky.

Thanks, will do. As nobody here in the Oz office has mentioned it I am hoping they're all ok.

Pollyana

I'm thinking we have heard nothing cos their communication lines will still all be down. Could be a while before they get back online. Try searching for their Met service websites too, might give you an idea how bad it was for them.

asprilla

http://www.goes.noaa.gov/sohemi/sohe...hirgmscol.html

Latest couple of images appear to show that the cyclone is has turned and is headed due West towards Cairns - I really hope that is not the case. Looking at these radar images and trying to project a path is not reliable... so hopefully I'm completely wrong.

Most recent BOM update says midway between Innisfail and Cardwell, a far better outcome as that area is not heavily populated.

Lets keep an eye on the next BOM update, due in 20mins.

tonyk38

Yes it's moving back towards us again.

mandymoochops

Reading this and watching the updates from here in Canada in disbelief actually.

Sincerey hope no-one gets hurt and that you all stay as safe as you can x

bcworld

BOM map just updated again...Innisfail directly on the centre line now.

http://www.bom.gov.au/products/IDQ65002.shtml

DownUnderPaddy

...and because of the size, the 'very destructive' winds will take 3 to 4 hours to abate. It's just number on a BOM update but I can only imagine that would seem like infinity if you were actually experiencing it.

The A Team

absolutely terrified....already getting very windy and noisy. Thanks for all your updates as always Polly.