The aftermath of Cyclone Yasi

Cyclone Yasi hit the northern Queensland coast three days ago and has been declared the worst cyclone to hit Australia since 1918.  The winds were between 131-155 mph (category 4) which make Cyclone Yasi a little less intense than Hurricane Katrina.  But this thing was huge (see pictures below).

Obviously, the most affected area's are in red. 

This is what it would look like if only the center part were to hit Mississippi. .

Some friends messaged me on facebook to make sure I was safe. To put my location into perspective it would be like being in Jackson, MS and having a hurricane hit the New York area.  So, no worries everyone, I was/am safe.

As for northern Queensland, thousands of people have been affected and the cleanup will be difficult and tedious. There was one confirmed death and it was a 23 year old man who had taken cover in a closed room. He was using a generator for power and died by asphyxiation due to inhaling the diesel fumes. 

One of the hardest hit areas was a major agricultural spot for banana and sugar cane growth. Estimation's are that nearly 75% of bananas and 35% of sugar, for the entire country of Australia, have been destroyed (prices will go up soon, so I most likely will not be eating many bananas this year).

Tourism will be affected as well...

     

Many service organizations, like Rotary, will be heavily involved in this clean up. They will have their hands full for quite some time (remember how long it took to clean up after Katrina). So, Queensland is facing a similar situation to what most Mississippians and Louisianians faced after Katrina (add 'massive flooding unrelated to Cyclone' here). Fortunately, one of the reasons Rotary exists around the world is to serve, and to serve when disasters strike. I hope to help in any capacity that I can.