Luci's Backpacking Trip, Airlie Beach, Australia after Tropical Cyclone Dylan - January 31st
Jan 31, 2014 11:30:13 #
All OK after the Tropical storm at Airlie Beach, Australia. Some flooding but typical holiday spirit, they make it into a paddling pool, brilliant. Tomorrow, bus and off to Cairns and the diving trip on the Great Barrier Reef is re-scheduled for Monday, Luci is really looking forward to this experience. It appears there is lots to see at this beautiful location. The iPhone is going to be busy I hope taking more lovely photographs.
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Dylan continues to dump heavy rain after making landfall
Ex-tropical cyclone Dylan is still dumping heavy rain in north and central Queensland as it moves further inland. The storm began as a tropical low in the Coral Sea several days ago but last night intensified before making landfall about 3:30am AEST at Hideaway Bay, near Bowen. It has quickly lost steam and about 4pm was more than 100 kilometres west of Moranbah, with drought-stricken graziers hoping for decent rainfall. But wild seas have pounded a resort on Great Keppel Island, washing away some buildings at a local bar. "Three cabins, dive shop shed, utility shed, countless trees," co-owner Sean Appleton said. "As each wave comes through we're losing more and more." Mr Appleton fears there will be more damage in Saturday's high tide. "We're looking at about six metres from the front of the main structure," he said.
Storm surges combined with king tides also caused isolated flooding in Mackay and Airlie Beach.
The high tide in Mackay of more than 6.5 metres was enough to force police to block access to the city's main boat ramp, with water pushing more than 30 metres from the top of the ramp into the carpark.
While most regions have escaped relatively unscathed, Mackay Mayor Deidre Comerford says there could be more in store before cyclone season ends in April. "There's another low forming, so I'd say that's just good preparation because you know you can get an event that really is quite serious in the devastation it can cause," she said.
Residents relieved to find little damage
Hideaway Bay locals say they endured an anxious night as winds up to 130 kilometres per hour lashed the coast.
Caravan park owner Paul Willcocks says they are relieved to find little damage in the light of day.
Storm surge in picturesEx-Tropical Cyclone Dylan brought wild weather to central Queensland. See the best pictures.
"At the moment I can see branches all over the place and the wind is still whistling around. It's very gusty but hardly raining," he said.
"We didn't get a lot of rain over the last 24 hours, something in the order of 80 or 90 millimetres here but it's been a very blustery night that's for sure."
The Bureau of Meteorology, meanwhile, has come under fire for a lack of warnings issued as they cyclone made landfall.
The bureau updated its alert just before 5:00am (AEST), 90 minutes after Dylan made landfall.
Senior forecaster Brett Harrison says bureau staff are not to blame.
"We don't have the resources to issue those sort of warnings more regularly than that, we unfortunately had to wait for that three-hourly update cycle," he said. But he says warnings about the cyclone have been issued for days and the bureau's web based radar was also available to track the cyclone.
Graham Thirkill
Luci's Dad.
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Dylan continues to dump heavy rain after making landfall
Ex-tropical cyclone Dylan is still dumping heavy rain in north and central Queensland as it moves further inland. The storm began as a tropical low in the Coral Sea several days ago but last night intensified before making landfall about 3:30am AEST at Hideaway Bay, near Bowen. It has quickly lost steam and about 4pm was more than 100 kilometres west of Moranbah, with drought-stricken graziers hoping for decent rainfall. But wild seas have pounded a resort on Great Keppel Island, washing away some buildings at a local bar. "Three cabins, dive shop shed, utility shed, countless trees," co-owner Sean Appleton said. "As each wave comes through we're losing more and more." Mr Appleton fears there will be more damage in Saturday's high tide. "We're looking at about six metres from the front of the main structure," he said.
Storm surges combined with king tides also caused isolated flooding in Mackay and Airlie Beach.
The high tide in Mackay of more than 6.5 metres was enough to force police to block access to the city's main boat ramp, with water pushing more than 30 metres from the top of the ramp into the carpark.
While most regions have escaped relatively unscathed, Mackay Mayor Deidre Comerford says there could be more in store before cyclone season ends in April. "There's another low forming, so I'd say that's just good preparation because you know you can get an event that really is quite serious in the devastation it can cause," she said.
Residents relieved to find little damage
Hideaway Bay locals say they endured an anxious night as winds up to 130 kilometres per hour lashed the coast.
Caravan park owner Paul Willcocks says they are relieved to find little damage in the light of day.
Storm surge in picturesEx-Tropical Cyclone Dylan brought wild weather to central Queensland. See the best pictures.
"At the moment I can see branches all over the place and the wind is still whistling around. It's very gusty but hardly raining," he said.
"We didn't get a lot of rain over the last 24 hours, something in the order of 80 or 90 millimetres here but it's been a very blustery night that's for sure."
The Bureau of Meteorology, meanwhile, has come under fire for a lack of warnings issued as they cyclone made landfall.
The bureau updated its alert just before 5:00am (AEST), 90 minutes after Dylan made landfall.
Senior forecaster Brett Harrison says bureau staff are not to blame.
"We don't have the resources to issue those sort of warnings more regularly than that, we unfortunately had to wait for that three-hourly update cycle," he said. But he says warnings about the cyclone have been issued for days and the bureau's web based radar was also available to track the cyclone.
Graham Thirkill
Luci's Dad.
Pic 1 Dylan's Cyclone damage
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Pic 2 Flooding prevention
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Pic 3
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Pic 4
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Pic 5
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Pic 6 if there is a dog about Luci will find it
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Pic 7
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Pic 8 Floods after the Cyclone moves away
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Pic 9 Make the best of the floods
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Pic 10 As above
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Pic 11 Publicity Material Photograph
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Pic 12 Another Publicity Picture of their next stop Cairns
Pic. 13 Publicity Material Photograph, The Great Barrier Reef, Luci and Amy will doing this, all being well, on Monday
Pic 14 Map to show you distances, they are leaving Airlie Beach and bus to Cairns in the morning, 640 km, 10 hours
Pic 15 Airlie Beach current location
Pic 16 Showing Cairns, next stop location
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