What do you folk up there do when something like this is approaching ?
(Just wondering).
I think I'd be taking advantage of a big hole in the ground somewhere !
.. or spending some accumulated holiday time, somewhere down south !
Take care.
Cheers
Talking from experience, the usual thing is to fill your esky with beer and your cupboards and fridge with food.
Then call your mates and organise a Cyclone party.
I've heard stories of people building cyclone shelters in their houses, using cartons of beer as building blocks.
One hopes that sense will prevail in this instance.
We wish those in the path good luck and hope that your preparations are going smoothly.
Checklist - http://www.bom.gov.au/cyclone/about/checklist.shtml
I am sure many of us wish we could be there to lend a hand.
The reason why the track has been modified is that the storm has traveled a bit further west than they thought it would before it turns in. It's still expected to turn SW as there is an upper level ridge moving in from the west. That'll push the anticyclone (high pressure system) at the upper levels above the storm to the south and hence the storm will turn in that direction. I've heard some people say Townsville may have dodged a bullet. In no way, shape or form has that happened. Everywhere from Cairns, south to at least Mackay had better watch out as this storm is so large you could still be 400kms or more from the centre of the storm and still get hammered.
Hi All,
I lived up there years ago. Cyclone parties used to be the go.
Sometimes no one turned up.
This Yasi Storm worries me. I have never seen one as big as this one.
It means that its intensity is wider from the centre. It moves slowly and therefore over any given point in its path will be subjected to gale force winds and rain for a much longer period.
Many Nth Qlders would not get out of bed for a medium cat 2 cyclone. Yasi will be worrying everyone all night or all day long.
Cat 2 = trees blow down, old roofing lifts off.
Cat 3 = Damage to houses, trees. Take cover
Cat 4 = Can often take the house.
Get into shelter, take your astro gear & radio with you. Its going to be a long scary ride. I hope it starts dissipating before it hits, becuase this will cause a lot of damage.
Actually, Cyclone Justin in '98 was physically a larger storm (about 25% larger) but nowhere near as intense.
I only hope it doesn't intensify to TC Mahina's (1899, Bathurst Bay) strength. That had a 13-15 metre storm surge and sustained 325km/hr winds. It's the most powerful storm ever recorded in living memory along the east coast.
Hi Carl,
Yes you are correct. How I am rating Yasi is:
Justin reached Cat 4 but it was only a cat 2 at landfall. Its destructive power was concentrated to around 50 - 80 Kms from the eye wall.
With Yasi the destructive winds are 3-4 times that distance. The further from the eye wall the lower the wind speed. However within the 50-80klms from the eye wall Yasi will take houses. Justin did not have that power.
That un named cyclone of 1899 was very powerful. I know very little about it and Yasi is shaping up to rival it. Becuase a powerful cyclone hit in 1899 there was not the population nor the number of buidings that there are today. Therefore it hardly rates as a very destructive cyclone.
Although its power is greater than most recorded.
If it struck today; I would not like to think about it.
Tie those scopes down! 
