Cyclone Marcia

[elbeano]

A big shout out to all those in Marcia's path.Stay safe and hopefully it will be back to normal in a few days.
This little lady has some serious attitude problems.Has gone from cat 1 to cat 3 in 12 hours, and is about to cross land and be at Brisbane in 24-36 hours.

[elbeano]

Update.She is expected to be cat 4 by 4 am Friday morning.
Please take this seriously,over 50% of Queenslands population are in her path.
Good luck everyone.

[Dimal]

We were Ok this time but our youngest son and his wife in Rocky got knocked around a bit. No injuries, just a few trees blown over and lots of water.

Our wishes go out to all those who have suffered at the whim of Cyclone Marcia, and hope things get back to normal as soon as possible.

Mal & Di.

[TK421]

Hope the cleanup goes well - stay safe and dry. There is nothing better than coffee to lift spirits.

[Rocky]

Well that was nasty.
Cyclone was a Cat5 when it hit land in Shoalwater Bay but quickly deteriorated as it moved South through Byfield, between Rockhampton and Yeppoon, and then on past Biloela.
Whilst it still managed to flatten tens of thousands (yes I mean tens) of trees, and unroof several hundred houses, it actually went across Rocky at only about a Cat 2.
That was enough to down 1800 power lines which are still being repaired.
We are nestled in the foothills of the Berserker Mountains and had no property damage at all, but were without water for 3 days and no power for 7. Some folks nearby are still without power now (9 days)
95% of the power lines down were due to big trees close to the lines. Council, Ergon & homeowners all to blame.
A huge amount of water came down the creeks out of the mountains and the amount of debris all over roads & property is unbelievable. The Army, SES & Council are seriously into it still.
I spent most of the time chasing ice, water. If I had had a generator I would have been chasing fuel instead of ice. (see my thread on Generators)
I was in coffee withdrawal most of the time and like most people hit the coffee shops when I could. Their business must have been X10!
The Cyclone (which hit at about 1.30pm Friday) was immediately followed by 3 days of 35 degree heat which nearly finished everybody off (without fans or A/C)
People who were 'quick on the uptake' bought all the generators in town on the Saturday morning. I believe some are now returning them saying "not what I wanted" or "doesn't work properly". (I hope retailers are not taking them back)
I certainly learned a few lessons out of the experience and will be a bit better prepared in the future.

[Dimal]

Yeah, pretty rough alright...

Our son and his wife only got power back on yesterday, and there is still a hell of a lot of cleaning up going on too. The pollies and Govt bodies really need to keep pushing on with all the help that's needed....

Mal.

[Dimal]

Just received some photos from our son and his wife in Rocky today. Have included a few that were taken during and after.

From their front verandah...


Looking down their street when the Eye passed over...


A neighbour's back yard...


Across and down the road a bit...


Across the road from where my son works...


Mal.

[Dimal]

This short video was shot from the front verandah of their home...

Mal.

[coffeechris]

Looks scary, but i can understand why they live up there. Beautiful unlike the Melbourne weather