Sunday, March 21, 2010

'Ului' turned out to be a bit of a gentleman!

Well, cyclone 'Ului' made landfall at around 1.30 am this morning (March 21st) and the outcome has been relatively good.  'Ului' crossed our coast around 230 kilometres away from where I live ... Townsville.

We have had very little rain and just a few patches of wind gusts ... so we got off scott-free! It's mostly been very, very still here ... which is what we expect when a cyclone is approaching, but not what we expect when it's close by. It's been a little eerie!  We're not sure whether we're going to get more rain and wind or if that's that!

Unfortunately my Dad lives a little further south, in Bowen, and that area was just within the heart of the cyclone ... that's the red part of the diagram above.  He lives only 50 kilometres away from where the centre of the cyclone's 'eye' hit .... so my hometown experienced wind gusts around 200 kilometres an hour.

My poor 'ole Dad said he could hear the roof lifting  ... the noise of the wind was apparently ear-splitingly loud!!  They lost power down there as soon as the 'eye' hit and it hasn't come back on yet ... and it's now over 10 hours later!   They experienced torrential rain and it's still raining ... there are lots of trees that have fallen down and power lines are down ...

... but luckily no deaths or casualties have been reported. They still can't leave their houses yet ... too much debris around.

There are reports of homes damaged, boats washed ashore, trees down and 60,000 homes without power,

but all in all ... 'Ului' turned out to be a bit of a gentleman.  He behaved quite well - given the fact that he was a Category 3 cyclone when he crossed the coast!   He only caused moderate damage ... well moderate damage for our corner of the world anyway! 

The Emergency Services and Disaster Relief Authorities credit the locals with being so well prepared that it helped create a positive outcome for this event.

11 comments:

  1. Bernie, we've been listening out for how this one went. Glad to hear that you are safe and sound and I hope your Dad finds all his property to be intact!

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  2. So glad Bernie that you and your family are okay. I remember when my children were young, we would take our pillows, grab my purse and head for the basement when there was a tornado warning. It can be a frightening experience when there is no place to go for safety.

    Eileen

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  3. Thanks GG and GG ... all's well that ends well. Luckily my childhood home is OK ... Dad will be getting the roof checked out however because that has apparently lifted. There's quite a bit of debris in his yard and down the street outside ... and the power is still off, so poor Dad hasn't been able to have his cuppa coffee all day today! Still that's nothing compared to what could have happened.

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  4. Great news!! Hope all who have lost power get it back soon. So very glad you were spared Bernie!! Happy Spring!

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  5. Oh my, how frightening, Bernie! So glad you are all OK.

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  6. Hi Bernie so glad that you have escaped the worst of it. I suppose its getting all that lovely furniture back unto the veranda today. I think your dad was very fortunate to not have worse damage at least the roof didn't come off. I hope by now he's had a cuppa and gets a good nights sleep as I am sure he didn't get much with that cyclone overhead.

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  7. Bernie, so glad that you and yours are all safe.

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  8. Bernie,
    Glad everyone is ok after the storm. Here in South Florida I have been through my share of cyclones aka-hurricanes. They seem to be attracted to my neighborhood. We spent 37 days without power back in 2005. Hope you fare better.

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  9. Hope you are still dry and safe Bernie. Sueb

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  10. Thanks everyone for your concern ... in the end we just got some more torrential rain.

    Well Hi Lavinder lady ... glad to see you've joined the web blogging community. Now I'll be waiting to see your blog!!

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  11. It's a miracle you didn't get hit! I hope your dad's area is now dried out and back to normal.

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