Cyclone tears through Australia’s coastal areas
SYDNEY: Australia’s army and emergency workers headed to areas of tropical Queensland state hardest hit by Cyclone Debbie today, finding roads blocked by fallen trees, sugar cane fields flattened and damage in coastal towns.
No deaths were reported after Debbie tore a trail of destruction through Australia’s north-east yesterday as a category four storm, one rung below the most dangerous wind speed level, before being gradually downgraded to a tropical low.
Thousands of people took shelter as tourist resorts along the world-famous Great Barrier Reef and coastal areas were belted with wind gusts stronger than 260km/h.
They woke to streets filled with debris.
Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk said the worst-hit area was the Whitsunday coast and islands, about 900km north-west of the state capital, Brisbane.
Water was cut to Daydream Island, where there were 200 guests and 100 staff, she said.
At Mackay, not far from the Whitsunday coast, fences and sheds were blown away, rivers were swollen and high tides and heavy swells still pounded the shore today, television footage showed.
Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull said: “Nature has flung her worst at the people of Queensland. There will be… a lot of damage done now to recover, to clean up, to restore power, to make power lines safe.”
More than 63 000 people were without electricity.
One family near Airlie Beach had a particularly dramatic night. Palaszczuk said the family welcomed a baby girl who was born in the Whitsunday Ambulance Station as the storm raged. – Reuters