Sydney Morning Herald
Larry 'flattens' Innisfail houses
There have been early, unconfirmed, reports of casualties and some people are feared missing in the wake of one of the most powerful cyclones to ever hit Queensland.
"We have reports of fairly major structural damage around the Innisfail area, one from Silkwood which is to the south of Innisfail, and we've had reports of some casualties at Cairns hospital, some 20 or so," weather bureau forecaster Jonty Hall told AAP.
"There's also some reports of a few people missing as well."
The nurse manager at Cairns Base hospital said there had been no casualties treated up to about 10am. A spokesperson at Innisfail hospital had no reports of casualties at 11am.
Cyclone Larry made landfall at the small town of Innisfail, about 100km south of Cairns, as a category five storm, about 4am.
Innisfail's mayor, Neil Clarke, told smh.com.au that he and staff at the shire council have been manning a disaster management centre in Innisfail, where they have been since yesterday afternoon. "I got about two hours sleep, I think, between midnight and 3am," he said.
He said the cyclone hit Innisfail, population 8000, about 4am, causing widespread damage. They were now dealing with the second half of the storm.
"We're still right in the middle of the cyclone, the eye passed immediately over Innisfail, it went quiet for about 45-minutes, and now we've got the second half ... with not only extreme wind conditions, but it's blowing all of the debris that was created with the first half of the cyclone, and all of the debris is flying around and smashing into everything else."
Mayor Clarke said he and his staff were unable to leave their building. "It's far too dangerous, we've got two people leaning on our main access door into the building to stop that blowing in."
There had been hundreds of calls and damage to "thousands" of houses but no reports of injury or loss of life as yet. "I have no doubt there will be injuries, I'm hoping there won't be loss of life."
"I've spoken to the Premier this morning, I've spoken to the [State] Minister for Emergency Services, the Premier has spoken to the Prime Minister and they are well and truly aware that we will need all the help that we can get - not only in the short term but in the long term."
The cyclone slammed into Ravenshoe, south-west of Cairns, about 10am, the town's mayor, Anne Portess, told smh.com.au.
"It's going crazy - it's a cacophany, there's just these different levels of roaring," she said.
"My walls are shaking furiously right now, the wind roars, the house is shaking, the roof is shaking. I'm not happy.
"But I live in a new house I'm just worried about those out bush who don't have legal dwellings.
"People living in things like tin sheds or caravans this will really test them."
"There's driving rains, you can't see out the windows, and the wind's going in every direction - the winds sounds like a train coming in the distance," she said.
"I'm not going anywhere and [the emergency services] would be mad to go out in this.
"The SES is telling people if they've got a roof or a car then sit there and ride it out, don't go anywhere.
"There's no power and the phone's off, we've got no phone contact except mobile phones, and the ABC went down.
"There was a siren about an hour ago but we haven't heard of anything serious happening yet.
"We've had this kind of thing before and we've just bunkered down."
http://www.smh.com.au/news/national/larry-flattens-innisfail-houses/2006/03/20/1142703252564.html
Second cyclone 'not yet a threat'
A second cyclone has formed behind Tropical Cyclone Larry but is not yet posing a threat to the far north Queensland coast.
The Queensland Bureau of Meteorology says Tropical Cyclone Wati is near Vanuatu and moving west, south-west at about 13 knots.
It is currently located about 2000km east of Townsville.
It is intensifying and moving in the same direction at Cyclone Larry which is currently battering the state's far north coast.
"It's certainly of no immediate threat to the Queensland coast," a bureau spokesman told ABC radio.
"But it does look like following a similar path to Larry in the next few days."
Larry crossed the coast this morning as a maximum category five storm, with wind gusts reaching 290kph.
Despite being downgraded to a category four, forecasters warn the far north region probably has not yet seen the strongest winds.
http://www.smh.com.au/news/national/second-cyclone-not-yet-a-threat/2006/03/20/1142703251287.html
'One in three' roofs gone
Downed trees in front of a house in cyclone-hit Innisfail.
Photo: Sky News
By Dylan Welch and David Braithwaite
March 20, 2006 - 3:51PM
Page 1 of 2 Single page
One in three houses have lost their roofs and at least 14 people have been hurt in the coastal region where Tropical Cyclone Larry made landfall.
More than half of the houses and buildings in the small town of Innisfail, about 100km south of Cairns, suffered major damage when the category five storm hit about 4am, said Sergeant Gary Burkin of Innisfail police.
The cyclone has now been downgraded to level three.
"There's some buildings that have totally collapsed," Sergeant Burkin said. "It's greater than 50 per cent [damage] for housing and buildings."
About a third of houses at Innisfail - which has a population of about 8000 - had lost their roofs, said Queensland Counter Disaster and Rescue Services (CDRS) executive director Frank Pagano.
There have been 14 casualties reported, including a fractured leg, a fractured ankle as well as minor cuts and abrasions, across Mareeba, Atherton, Innisfail and Babinda, said North Queensland health service's Jim Guthrie.
By At 3pm Cairns Base Hospital had not admitted anyone injured by the cyclone.
No serious injuries had been reported at any northern Queensland hospitals.
Hospitals at Innisfail, Babinda and Atherton suffered minor damage from the galeforce winds, with tiles being torn from roofs, windows broken and some power failures. All were operating on emergency power.
Cairns had escaped relatively unscathed, but the region south of Cairns, including Innisfail, appeared to have copped the brunt of the cyclone.
"We went for a drive this morning and I'd say every second building is damaged some completely, some minor," said Johnstone Shire's State Emergency Service manager, Alan Green.
"Some have all their roofs gone, some have walls gone, awnings are gone out the front.
"Trees are in all sorts of directions that I can't understand how they got like that. I couldn't even say the damage bill at this stage but it would be very significant."
Local volunteers had been inundated with calls for assistance, he said.
Prime Minister John Howard committed Blackhawk choppers and other military equipment to the disaster recovery effort.
"If any military assets are needed, they will be readily available.
"This is certainly a very fearful and challenging time for the people of far north Queensland and I want them to know that their fellow Australians are with them," he said.
"Fortunately, the big army establishment at Townsville, the Lavarack Barracks ... is not all that far away," he said.
http://www.smh.com.au/news/national/one-in-three-roofs-gone/2006/03/20/1142703252564.html
Cyclone devastates Australia's banana crop
Cyclone Larry has devastated Australia's banana industry, destroying fruit worth $300 million and leaving up to 4,000 people out of work.
Australians now face a shortage of bananas and likely price rises after the cyclone tore through the heart of the nation's biggest growing region.
Queensland produces about 95 per cent of Australia's bananas.
The Australian Banana Growers Council said the storm had wrecked the industry, ruining 200,000 tonnes of fruit.
"The banana crop in north Queensland has been decimated, probably between 90 and 100 per cent of the total crop is on the ground," council president Patrick Leahy said.
"Innisfail and Tully took the brunt of it, a large section of the industry on the tablelands is knocked out and the only section that seems to have come away with less damage is the Kennedy area.
"That means better than 80 per cent of the total Australian crop is on the ground."
Mr Leahy said with total production estimated to be worth $380 million and $400 million for the year, the cyclone had destroyed as much as $350 million in produce.
http://www.smh.com.au/news/national/thousands-of-jobs-gone-with-bananas/2006/03/20/1142703270076.html
Cyclone downgraded as it heads West
March 20, 2006 - 3:12PM
Towns inland of Innisfail on the north Queensland coast are bracing for the impact of Tropical Cyclone Larry.
Larry "still poses a threat to life and property" across the southwestern Atherton Tablelands and west to Normanton, reported the bureau of meteorology at 2pm.
The cyclone was expected to continue moving west at 25 to 30 km/h, the bureau said.
Winds were gusting up to 180 km/h across the tablelands and there was a danger of flooding in coastal rivers and streams between Innisfail and Townsville.
However, the cyclone was weakening on its inland route and was expected to be downgraded to a tropical low tomorrow as it moved into the Gulf of Carpentaria.
Larry was downgraded to category three about 11am when it was tracking about 65km south-west of Mareeba, inland from Cairns.
http://www.smh.com.au/news/national/cyclone-downgraded-as-it-heads-west/2006/03/20/1142703257234.html
Time to rise with Japan's sun
A good relationship with Tokyo will serve us better than being a US surrogate, warns Paul Sheehan.
AdvertisementAdvertisement
JAPANESE weddings are very democratic. Everyone gives a speech. There's a lot of emotion on or near the surface in Japan, despite myths to the contrary. When Tomoe Ito married James Croak in Tokyo last week, she broke down during her speech. Her mother spoke, and broke down. Her aunt spoke, and broke down. Her sister-in-law spoke, and broke down. Even when my wife spoke, she broke down. (My wife is a team player.)
Great wedding. Great week. Great country. Japan is not too hard. Japan is not too expensive. It is the global economic power we take for granted. And it is about to become more important in your life, and more important in the world. The Japanese people are sitting on a money mountain, $8 trillion in dormant savings, and the world's second-largest economy is about to re-emerge after a long, hard winter - 15 years of deflation, rolling recessions and rising unemployment.
http://www.smh.com.au/news/paul-sheehan/time-to-rise-with-japans-sun/2006/03/19/1142703218087.html
New Zealand Herald
Cyclone Larry lashes North Queensland coast
20.03.06 11.30am - UPDATE
BRISBANE - Destructive Cyclone Larry is continuing to batter the far north Queensland coast.
Authorities say cane farming town Innisfail, which has borne the brunt of the storm, will be plunged into financial ruin in the wake of the destructive cyclone.
The cyclone hit as a maximum category five this morning, with wind gusts reaching 290kph. It has since been downgraded to a four.
Innisfail, south of Cairns, has borne the brunt of Larry destruction, but Cairns has also been significantly affected.
Despite the downgrade, forecasters have warned the far north region has probably not yet seen the strongest winds.
"We have reports of fairly major structural damage around Innisfail area, one from Silkwood which is to the south of Innisfail, and we've had reports of some casualties at Cairns hospital, some 20 or so," weather bureau forecaster Jonty Hall said.
"There's also some reports of a few people missing as well."
A Queensland Ambulance Service spokeswoman said she could not confirm reports of people being taken to hospital.
"We are just putting all our contingencies in place," she said.
"We are making sure people are calm and talking to them on the phones through out communications centres.
Johnstone Shire Council deputy mayor George Pervan said the cyclone had torn through the sugar cane and banana crops, causing extensive damage.
"The crops are all gone, bananas are all flattened, cane's flattened. It'll kill us for 12 or 18 months," Mr Pervan said.
"It'll kill us completely.
"They were expecting a good price for the cane this year, they were getting a good price for bananas.
"(We're expecting) a lot of problems, massive problems."
He said Larry was much worse than the category three Cyclone Winifred, which struck south of Innisfail in February 1986, causing widespread destruction.
"Winifred was nothing compared to this, nothing at all," he said from his Innisfail home.
"There's been plenty of damage. There's roofs gone off, at our place ... we're just off the river and there's damage everywhere. It's unbelievable.
"It's pouring rain. It's very scary.
"You can't even move out of the yard here, there's trees right up the road, powerlines everywhere and the only safe place is (to stay indoors) until the rain stops."
When Winifred struck, it destroyed 50 homes and damaged hundreds of others as well as larger buildings.
Three people were killed, 20 injured, and the town suffered severe sugar cane, fruit and vegetable crop losses.
Total estimated costs were $A325 ($NZ376.2) million.
To add to the region's concern, a second cyclone, Wati, has formed behind Larry but was today near Vanuatu, still days away from hitting the Australian coast.
Meanwhile, passengers booked on the Air New Zealand flight from Auckland to Cairns tomorrow morning will not know for some time if they will leave as expected.
Air New Zealand spokesman David Jamieson says the decision to fly into Cairns obviously depends on the weather, but he says there is the added complication of possible damage to the airport and navigational beacons on the ground.
Mr Jamieson says the situation is being monitored and a decision on whether the flight will leave will be made in time to advise passengers.
North Queensland supermarkets had earlier been cleaned out as residents prepared for the storm. Hot FM's Rod Difflack is in Townsville and says many has filled up with fuel and emptied the shelves of bottled water and batteries for portable radios. .
- AAP, NEWSTALK ZB
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/story.cfm?c_id=2&ObjectID=10373507
Howard promises rapid aid to cyclone-stricken areas
20.03.06 1.20pm
MELBOURNE - Australian Prime Minister John Howard says the federal government and the military will do everything possible to help victims of Cyclone Larry, which hit far north Queensland this morning.
Mr Howard said he had spoken with Queensland Premier Peter Beattie last night, and they had agreed to work together on the relief effort.
"If any military assets are needed, they will be readily available," Mr Howard told reporters in Melbourne.
He said that could include the use of helicopters.
"This is certainly a very fearful and challenging time for the people of far north Queensland and I want them to know that their fellow Australians are with them," he said.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/story.cfm?c_id=2&ObjectID=10373552
Rescued DoC rangers set out again for volcano island
20.03.06
By Errol Kiong
The five conservation rangers evacuated from Raoul Island after a volcanic explosion believed to have claimed the life of their colleague are heading back to the island.
Jim Livingstone, Morgan Cox, Melanie Nelson, Evan Ward and Lynda McGrory-Ward are returning to help recovery operations and to assess the damage from Friday morning's eruption. Their colleague, Mark Kearney, 33, is feared dead after being caught in the eruption.
The five were joined by three colleagues, including Raoul Island programme manager Mike Ambrose, on board the RV Braveheart, which left Tauranga for the island at 9.30pm on Saturday.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/story.cfm?c_id=1&ObjectID=10373492
Hamas presents Palestinian cabinet to Abbas
20.03.06
GAZA - Hamas presented its cabinet to Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas on Sunday after the Islamic militant group failed to persuade any rival factions to join a government Israel and the United States have pledged to shun.
Hamas's plan to appoint party loyalists to top ministerial posts, in the absence of coalition partners, was an early signal of the success of Israeli and US efforts to isolate the Palestinian election victor sworn to Israel's destruction.
Prime Minister-designate Ismail Haniyeh gave the Hamas cabinet list to Abbas in Gaza as reporters looked on.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/story.cfm?c_id=2&ObjectID=10373527
Milosevic daughter denounces 'political' funeral
20.03.06 10.20am
BELGRADE - Slobodan Milosevic's daughter has denounced the former Serbian president's funeral, saying his Socialist Party had hijacked it for political ends.
Socialist officials and other prominent supporters made a succession of fiery speeches at a gathering of tens of thousands of people in Belgrade on Saturday before Milosevic's coffin was taken to the provincial town of Pozarevac for burial.
Milosevic's son was quoted in the Belgrade daily Press as saying the funeral was "terrible" and had been turned into a political rally but he later denied making the comments, although he admitted he had spoken to a reporter from the paper.
Some Serbian media saw the funeral as the final act of an era marked by the Balkan wars of the 1990s in which at least 150,000 people were killed and millions forced from their homes.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/story.cfm?c_id=2&ObjectID=10373524
Trainee Australian terrorist
20.03.06 8.20am
Australian terror suspect David Hicks has admitted weapons and guerrilla warfare training with British Islamic extremists, including shoe-bomber Richard Reid. The British Government made the claim to Hicks' lawyers last year, the Age said.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/story.cfm?c_id=2&ObjectID=10373461
Turning vegetarian can help you lose weight
18.03.06
By Patricia Reaney
LONDON - If you want to keep the weight down, switch to a meat-free diet, scientists said this week.
Researchers studied the eating habits of 22,000 people over five years and found all put on a few kilos but meat eaters who changed to a vegetarian or vegan diet gained the least.
"Contrary to current popular views that a diet low in carbohydrates and high in protein keeps weight down, we found that the lowest weight gain came in people with high intake of carbohydrates and low intake of protein," said Professor Tim Key.
The research compared weight gain among meat eaters, fish eaters, vegetarians and vegans, who eat no animal products.
The research, published in the International Journal of Obesity, showed that on average people gained 2kg over five years. None of the volunteers was overweight.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/story.cfm?c_id=2&objectid=10373208
The Australian
Monster cyclone threatens far north
THOUSANDS of Queenslanders were evacuating their homes last night as one of the most severe cyclones in decades bore down on the state's north.
Tropical Cyclone Larry, a category-four storm gusting up to 280km/h, was surging towards the coast between Cairns and Townsville.
The Bureau of Meteorology last night warned that it was likely to intensify into a category-five cyclone before hitting the coast south of Innisfail between 7.30am and 8.00am today.
If it is upgraded, the storm could unleash greater fury than Cyclone Tracy, the category-four storm that killed 64 people and destroyed most of Darwin in 1974.
Mandatory evacuations were enforced in numerous low-lying coastal areas, including in the Johnstone and Cardwell shires south of Cairns.
In addition to the evacuation of island resorts in the path of the cyclone, emergency authorities also warned residents in low-lying areas between Cairns and Townsville to "seriously consider" leaving.
Premier Peter Beattie made a disaster declaration, giving local governments the power to enforce the mandatory evacuations.
Disaster co-ordination centres were activated in Cairns and Townsville while the state Government sent response teams from Brisbane in readiness for the expected gale force winds and flooding.
Petrol stations recorded a spike in business with residents filling up their tanks to drive south or inland, while supermarkets were inundated by people stocking up.
Schools in the hardest hit areas will be closed today while flights to Townsville and Cairns have been cancelled.
Tens of thousands of residents spent yesterday preparing their homes. Elaine Spicer sandbagged the front of her home at Machans Beach, north of Cairns.
"Last cyclone, the water came down our drive and into our backyard," she said. "You can't be too careful."
http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,5744,18528806%255E601,00.html
The XVIII Commonwealth Games
http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/index/0,20671,cwgames%5E%5ETEXT,00.html
Ah, McCann you've done it again
Chip Le Grand
March 20, 2006
THE greatest battle any marathon runner fights is with the voice inside their head. This is the voice that says you can't win, that you can't make another surge, that you can't run another step.
Within the shadow of the MCG, this voice told Kerryn McCann she would have to be happy with a silver medal.
How to silence that voice is something every marathon runner must discover. When a heat-stricken Kate Smyth teetered across the finish line in seventh place, her body temperature having reached 41C, her battle had been reduced to just a few centimetres.
Sometimes another, stronger voice emerges to say you can win. Sometimes you just need to be pig-headed enough to ignore it.
http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,5744,18526065%255E5002980,00.html
Bloomberg
Australia's Queensland Hit by Strongest Cyclone in 30 Years
March 20 (Bloomberg) -- Cyclone Larry, the worst storm in more than 30 years to hit Australia, struck Queensland's northeast coast, flattening houses and cutting power in the tourist region that has the Great Barrier Reef off its coast.
The category-five cyclone, with maximum wind gusts up to 250 kilometers (175 miles) an hour, crossed the coast near Innisfail, south of the city of Cairns, early today, Australia's Bureau of Meteorology said. Queensland Premier Peter Beattie declared the area a natural disaster zone after the storm uprooted trees, blew roofs off houses and destroyed sugar and banana plantations.
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=10000080&sid=aj_5cwcmZ7q4&refer=asia
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