Originally posted by the Voice of America.
Voice of America content is produced by the Voice of America,
a United States federal government-sponsored entity, and is in
the public domain.


Massive Cyclone Nearing Landfall in Australia

   VOA News  February 02, 2011
   This  image  provided  by  NASA  shows  Tropical  Cyclone  Yasi  as it
   approaches Queensland, Australia, February 2, 2011.

Photo: AP

   This  image  provided  by  NASA  shows  Tropical  Cyclone  Yasi  as it
   approaches Queensland, Australia, February 02, 2011

   Australian  authorities  say  it  is  too  late  for  people  still in
   northeastern Queensland state to evacuate ahead of Cyclone Yasi, which
   is  expected  to  strike the coastal region around midnight local time
   (1400  UTC  Wednesday)  with  the  most  powerful winds in more than a
   century.
   Queensland  Premier Anna Bligh says evacuation shelters in the city of
   Cairns  are  filled  to  capacity with more than 9,000 people, forcing
   them  to  turn  people  away.   Ms.  Bligh  earlier  Wednesday warned
   residents  and  tourists to "just grab each other" and head to safety.
   Â
   Thousands  of  people  have already fled the region, while hundreds of
   patients  were  removed  from  hospitals  and  airlifted  to the state
   capital of Brisbane.
   Cyclone  Yasi  is  expected to make landfall as a category five storm,
   with  winds  as high as 300 kilometers an hour.  Forecasters say Yasi
   could   produce  sea  surges  several  meters  above  normal,  putting
   thousands of homes in low-lying areas at risk of flooding. Â
   Alan  Sharp, the national manager of Tropical Cyclone Warning Services
   in  Melbourne,  says  Cyclone  Yasi  is the largest storm to reach the
   Queensland  coast  since  1899.   He  says  about  500  kilometers of
   coastline could be affected.
   Yasi could dump as much as one meter of rain before moving inland into
   parts  of Queensland that were recently devastated by several weeks of
   heavy  rains  and flash flooding.  More than 30 people were killed in
   the   disaster,  which  also  destroyed  at  least  30,000  homes  and
   businesses,  and  caused  heavy  losses  to the state's coal and sugar
   industry. Â

.