Cyclone Marcia

[Tones]

I don't if you people are aware that where Scrub Puller lives there is a cat 5 cyclone bearing down on then with winds around 270km's per hour. It ain't gonna be sexy cause it's going to be uprooting everything. Yair Scrub I hope you get through it OK.
For those of you who may be interest check out www.bom.gov.au

 

[Scrub Puller]

Yair . . . Gotcha Tones. Thanks for your thoughts, have to admit is not looking good.

We have battened down as much as possible and just have to hope for the best . . . to all other folks in the danger zone (which includes the most populated areas in the state) keep as safe as possible and don't take any risks with floodwaters.

Cheers.

 

[CM1995]

Take care Scrub and God Bless.

 

[digger242j]

Yes, take care, Scrub, and everyone else down that way.

 

[roddyo]

Take care Scrub.

I always thought this would make a great ongoing thread. HEF members giving a boots on the ground report inside disasters and other newsworthy events. With the reach of the forum we could cover a large part of the world, kind of like the Ham Operators but with pictures

Keep us updated if possible Scrub.....some Jim Cantori shots would be great

BTW. Jim Cantori is a reporter with the weather channel in the U.S. He is the one who goes where the storm is and reports on its progress for the Weather Channel. Usually outside in it attempting to stand sideways while the wind howls just before it hits reminding everyone of the power in its wake.

 

[Blk prince]

Fingers crossed Scrub. Report as soon as you are out of the line of fire

 

[old-iron-habit]

Good luck Scrub. I pray that the storm does not take all the dams out and leave you back in a drought situation again. Above all keep your head down and stay safe. All else but life can can be fixed.

 

[RonG]

I hope that you can read this after the fact but be safe Scrub and thanks for the heads up Tone.Ron G

 

[Queenslander]

Cyclones of this strength are, thankfully, somewhat rare this far south .
Also unusual is that Marcia is expected to remain a Cat3 storm for some time after crossing the coast.
About 3 to 4 hours to landfall.
Another cyclone, Cat 4 "Lam", crossed the Northern Territory coast earlier this morning without, I believe, causing too much destruction.

 

[roddyo]

Thanks for the report. Keep us informed. Are the houses mostly block or concrete along the coast?

 

[mitch504]

Yeah, take care, and God bless.

I've been through a cat 5 hurricane, and it ain't fun. The eye was awesome, but not worth going through the rest of it.

Scrub, you get back on here as soon as you can, even if it's only to say,"Me and mine are ok".

Praying for you,
Mitch

 

[Queenslander]

Latest reports have it crossing the coast at Shoulwater Bay, which is a large, mostly unpopulated, area used by the military as a training area.
Could still be Cat3 when it passes Rockhampton, a large provincial city, slightly inland, that has a large number of typical "Queenslander" style homes.
That is, timber houses set on high stumps, built well before cyclone rated building codes were enforced in 1985.
Wall to wall reporters in raincoats at the moment.
Cheers, Greg

 

[Queenslander]

Another update, no reports of damage yet, everyone hunkered down.
I've marked my location as well as taking a guess at Scrub's (Iam sure he'll correct me if Iam wrong)

 

[Scrub Puller]

Yair . . . Gotcha Queenslander. I Have just spoken to friends an a brother at Yeppoon . . . blowing hard and the inner circles have not yet reached them, it is not looking good although they are in both in fairly new cyclone rated houses.

You are pretty much spot on with our position, we can only hope the bloody thing loses some intensity by the time it gets to us.

We are on a low sand ridge with adjacent timber which should give some protection. I have the old open walled shed and workshop so that could be a problem

Stay safe mate and Cheers.

 

[Queenslander]

All eyes on Rocky at the moment.

 

[Queenslander]

Looks like Qld. has escaped any major catastrophe so far.
Although traumatic for those involved, houses unroofed number in the tens rather than hundreds, plenty of power lines down and trees blown about and no reports of serious injury yet.
Focus now turns to rainfall, with the storm approaching the Burnett River catchment which was the scene of much destruction and heartache only two years ago.
BTW, Which part of the Sunshine (LOL) State are you from Tones?

 

[Tones]

Looks like Qld. has escaped any major catastrophe so far.
Although traumatic for those involved, houses unroofed number in the tens rather than hundreds, plenty of power lines down and trees blown about and no reports of serious injury yet.
Focus now turns to rainfall, with the storm approaching the Burnett River catchment which was the scene of much destruction and heartache only two years ago.
BTW, Which part of the Sunshine (LOL) State are you from Tones?

View attachment 131437

Brisbane Valley and know all about flooding.

 

[JBGASH]

Stay safe and God bless our Down Under friends.

 

[Scrub Puller]

Yair. . . It appears there has been considerable damage to centres north of us and we are awaiting reports about the failure of gates on a dam which may have affected a couple of small towns.

Over all though, as Queenslander reported upthread it could have been much worse considering the system crossed the coast as a Cat.5.

As always with these events it is a roll of the dice and in this case the storm came ashore in a (relatively) sparsely populated area and had weakened somewhat before it got to major centres . . . it also moved fairly quickly which meant that structures were subjected to sustained winds for a shorter period of time.

As for ourselves we got about six inches of rain and a bit of damage to fences from falling branches. . . trust much the same for you Queenslander?

Thanks to Tones for opening the thread, Queenslander for the BOM cyclone tracks and all those who followed the thread and thought or posted concern about our welfare in what could have been a much more serious situation.

Cheers.

 

[Queenslander]

it also moved fairly quickly which meant that structures were subjected to sustained winds for a shorter period of time.

I think that plays a big part in the amount of damage inflicted.
They say Darwin's Cyclone Tracey was only Cat4, but the bloody thing took nearly half the night to pass over and absolutely devastated the place.
3 inches of rain here overnight, no wind at all, 10 inches not far away on the Burnett resulting in moderate flooding but overall a good result for such a big storm.
Cheers, Greg