Film-Tech Forum ARCHIVE: Tropical Cyclone Ului hits tonight...

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Posted by John Wilson (Member # 269) on 03-20-2010, 12:15 AM:

Around 2am tomorrow morning our time, people in and around my old home town of Mackay, Queensland on the north-east coast of Australia will be hit by Tropical Cyclone (Hurricane) Ului.

Right now, the cyclone is packing winds of 170kmh. It's expected to hit Proserpine, which is about 120km north-west of Mackay.

Most of my family still live there so we're praying for their safety. Maybe you guys could spare a moment to have a word to the Big Guy for me too, eh?

Let's hope it's not too bad...

Posted by Paul Mayer (Member # 355) on 03-20-2010, 12:29 AM:

Yes, here's hope that your loved ones will come through this cyclone safely.

And yes, I have put in requests with several meteorological deities about this... [Smile]

BTW John, is this a common seasonal occurrence for Queensland? I don't recall hearing much about tropical cyclones hitting Oz.

Posted by John Wilson (Member # 269) on 03-20-2010, 02:34 AM:

Thanks Paul. [thumbsup]

Yes, every year from November to April is the cyclone season in our part of the world. One went straight through Mackay in around 1918 but mercifully nothing significant since until this one.

Posted by Stephen Brown (Member # 292) on 03-20-2010, 05:49 AM:

I was on Lindeman Island two weeks ago. looks like I got out I time.

Posted by Ian Parfrey (Member # 5122) on 03-20-2010, 08:02 AM:

John

We hope that your family get through this cyclone well, and am indeed having that word to the big guy upstairs.

Even though we are just below Fraser Island here, the reports are that the effects of the cyclone will be felt down to the Gold Coast.

Best of luck and keep us informed on what happens please.

Posted by John Wilson (Member # 269) on 03-21-2010, 04:30 AM:

Wow! What an outstanding response! Many thanks to Paul and Ian (and to some extent...Stephen) for caring about my family's potential plight. [Roll Eyes]

The cyclone ended up going through Airlie Beach...around 120km north but Mackay still was hit with 150km/h winds. Fortunately, not much property damage but lots of trees down etc. Our house had some minor damage to the verandah railing.

Photos from the local paper.

Posted by Claude S. Ayakawa (Member # 1401) on 03-21-2010, 04:48 AM:

I was very happy to learn the storm was not as serious as feared and your family were not in any danger, John. I know how terrible these storms can be after Hurricane Iniki completely swept over Kauai here in Hawaii and totally wiped out the island in 1992. So far no storm of that intensity has ever hit my home island of Oahu and the city of Honolulu, our state capitol. Sooner or later it will happen and I hope I am not around when it does.

-Claude

Posted by Ian Parfrey (Member # 5122) on 03-21-2010, 05:08 AM:

Thats great news, John.

As Claude says, those things are very frightening and not something I'd like to live through too many times.

Give your family regards from the Film-Techers. [thumbsup]

Posted by Tony Bandiera Jr (Member # 2365) on 03-21-2010, 02:50 PM:

John, glad to hear you came through it with minimal damage. [Smile]

We had a small earthquake here a few days ago...no damage at all really.

Posted by Phil Hill (Member # 371) on 03-21-2010, 07:00 PM:

John, glad all is OK wit' yous and loved ones! [thumbsup]

Posted by John Wilson (Member # 269) on 03-21-2010, 07:05 PM:

Thanks Claude, Ian, Tony and Phil...much appreciated.

My 76 year old father had to go through it on his own and he tells me it was extremely scary and not something he'd ever like to experience again. His suburb fared very badly it seems. Most of the pics in that link above are from his neighbourhood.

He still has no power (around 36hrs later) but he does have a generator. The TV stations seem to be underpowered considerably as the reception is very poor. The local ABC radio station has not been on air since the cyclone hit.

The local council has opened up the green waste depots for free to try and get some of the fallen trees and foliage off the streets. Schools are all closed.

Posted by Mark Lensenmayer (Member # 134) on 03-21-2010, 07:52 PM:

John, so glad to hear you came out OK.

I subscribe to a professional weather service and their long-range forecaster is predicting an active Atlantic hurricane season for the US with 15 storms, 7 landfalls, 5 hurricanes and 2 or 3 landfalls with major impact. Could be a rough summer on this end of the world.

Posted by Mike Blakesley (Member # 26) on 03-22-2010, 11:41 AM:

I'm late to this thread - don't know how I missed it. I'm thankful that the damage was not as great as feared.

Posted by John Wilson (Member # 269) on 03-22-2010, 03:18 PM:

Thanks to all for your thoughts.

The power is still out in some areas of Mackay. Phone lines are patchy at best...sometimes the landlines work, sometimes mobiles. The place is a mess, but fortunately building damage is mostly cosmetic.

It'll be a tough week for these guys.