ALERT: Australia- Cyclone Debbie Causes Destruction Near Tourist Area (March 28, 2017)

March 28, 2017

ALERT: Australia- Cyclone Debbie Causes Destruction Near Tourist Area

Cyclone Debbie has caused a wide swath of destruction in northeast Australia. Although major cities have been spared, the area affected is popular with tourists due to its proximity to the Great Barrier Reef.

According to The Mercury News:

“Cyclone Debbie made landfall near Airlie Beach, a tourist resort and gateway to the Great Barrier Reef, at midday with wind gusts up to 162 mph, according to the Bureau of Meteorology. Airlines canceled flights, as emergency services braced for flooding and destruction.”

USA Today reports:

“The storm was the equivalent of a Category 4 when it pushed ashore, the Weather Channel said.

The population of Queensland, a state in northeastern Australia, is about 4.6 million. The capital is Brisbane, Australia’s third-largest city. The storm hit about 560 miles northwest of Brisbane.”

Tourists were likely to be affected, said the BBC:

“It made landfall at close to its peak intensity, Dr Jeffrey D Kepert, head of the Bureau of Meteorology’s High Impact Weather Research told the BBC. Crucially, it is also very slow-moving. That ‘can be more damaging because the duration of strong winds is longer. As structures experience a longer battering, things like metal fatigue set in, leading to more damage. Also, more of the rain falls in the same area rather than being spread out, leading to a greater flood risk’.

Fortunately Debbie looks likely to head between two cities so ‘the destruction is likely to be somewhat less than feared’. And while tourists are less able to evacuate from the resorts that have been hit more directly, their hotels are ‘likely to have higher foundations’ and be built more solidly than many ordinary homes near the coast.”

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