Cyclone Yasi roars towards Australia's flooded north

Wednesday, 2 February 2011, 10:35 am
Press Release: Scoop Link

Storm expected to slam into coast of Queensland tomorrow, affecting communities already saturated from months of flooding.

Authorities have scrambled to airlift hospital patients from the path of a cyclone roaring toward waterlogged north-eastern Australia and urged low-lying communities to evacuate because of potentially deadly flash floods.

Cyclone Yasi was expected to slam into the coast of Queensland state on Wednesday as a Category 4 storm and dump up to 3ft (1 metre) of rain on communities already saturated from months of flooding.

"This storm is huge and it is life-threatening," Queensland premier Anna Bligh said. "I know many of us will feel that Queensland has already borne about as much as we can bear when it comes to disasters and storms, but more is being asked of us and I am confident that we are able to rise to this next challenge."

Yasi was barrelling towards the Queensland state coast as a strong Category 3 storm with winds up to 137 mph (220 kph), but was expected to turn into a Category 4 storm with wind gusts up to 155mph (250km/h) by Wednesday.

ENDS

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