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Forum Index : Off topic archive. : Cyclone Yasi one year on.

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Gizmo

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Joined: 05/06/2004
Location: Australia
Posts: 5004
Posted: 12:37am 02 Feb 2012
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It's been 1 year since cyclone Yasi hit the north Queensland coast. I was in Mackay at the time, about 500km south of the cyclones eye, it was blowing a gale at my place, and water was been blown under the back door into the house. I remember thinking at the time, there are hundreds of thousands of people, for about 800km north, who are going through the very same storm, but suffering much more violent winds.

Where most cyclones die a few hours after crossing the coast, Yasi continued on for a couple of days and was still a swirling low in the middle of Australia, some 4,000km inland, 4 days after crossing the coast.

Only one person was killed, and that was though his silly mistake of running a petrol generator in the same room as himself.

Some photos. http://www.abc.net.au/news/2011-02-02/cyclone-yasi-aftermath /1928764

This comic was in the local paper, the Daily Mercury, a day after the cyclone crossed the coast. I think its spot on!



GlennEdited by Gizmo 2012-02-03
The best time to plant a tree was twenty years ago, the second best time is right now.
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VK4AYQ
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Joined: 02/12/2009
Location: Australia
Posts: 2539
Posted: 01:29am 02 Feb 2012
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Hi Glenn

For good or bad, unfortunately people tend to build in places exposed to these events without thought for the odd bad one, and it was a miracle that no lives where lost as a direct result of the storm, except for the self inflicted one you mention.

On the bright side it has solved the Murray Darling problem for the moment and with the weather this year it could go on to keep the problem at bay for several more years.

Mother Nature both nurtures and reprimands stupidity.

All the best

Bob
Foolin Around
 
windlight
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Joined: 03/03/2007
Location: Australia
Posts: 331
Posted: 06:46pm 02 Feb 2012
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Call me stupid buy why does boof head have "no spirit" on his singlet? I am guessing all his grog blew away, I thought it was in all the survival manuals, "store adequate grog in an underground bunker".

A of J
"I like this place and willingly could waste my time in it" - (Act II, Scene IV).
 
Gizmo

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Joined: 05/06/2004
Location: Australia
Posts: 5004
Posted: 09:16pm 02 Feb 2012
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OK Stupid, its NQ, not NO.

Sorry A of J, couldn't help myself.

For everyone else, NQ is short for Northern Queensland.

Glenn
The best time to plant a tree was twenty years ago, the second best time is right now.
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windlight
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Joined: 03/03/2007
Location: Australia
Posts: 331
Posted: 09:43pm 02 Feb 2012
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Now I see the bar in the Q, seemed just like small wind born stuff, I was stressing a bit there, feeling rather sorry for Boof Head with no groig to hand.

A of j
"I like this place and willingly could waste my time in it" - (Act II, Scene IV).
 
windlight
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Joined: 03/03/2007
Location: Australia
Posts: 331
Posted: 11:12pm 02 Feb 2012
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Glenn the pics in your link are interesting particually the third pic down (the Balmain family) the roof flew away but the book case is untouched. The interesting thing about cyclones is the pulsing of the wind, it is not a steady blow.

I was operating the power station in Port Hedland on Dec. 7th 1975 when cyclone Joan came past, 50 Klm south actually, but it was interesting to look out from the cracked sliding door and watch the buildings. Joan was a cat5 just before landfall I lost the town early in the evening, tried once to re-establish power but failed, that was interesting as power was suplied via two step down transformers in the switchyard (adjacent) then three sections ( interupters set to one shot). There was no way I was going outside into the yard to open those sections so I closed both transformer breakers as simeltanious as I could (big circulating currents when not closed together). The diesels dug in until the breakers opened on over current, goto love diesel engines. My relief came in at midnight and by this time I had onlt one 250 Kw engine supplying the Compound (office, workshop and quaters)

I had forgotten to activate the alarm/shutdown panel after starting that unit, thankfully he noticed. We had one drama through the night when a section of the wall imediatly behing the switchboards was bending in, the center timber was joined mid span! no bracing just butted together. The generators were all open frame air cooled so it took some time to go through the procedure of "drying", run unexcited for 2 hours then apply min. excitation for a while (I forget how long) increasing over time, then they were concidered dry. They never got wet we had plastic over every generator all night but procedures are procedure.

Above ground power lines are always a casualty of cyclones and this time was no exception, the hospital suffered damage such that their back up power was unavailable due to water ingress. The big boss came to the station in the morning and he was crying, his power system was destroyed.

Line crews strung wires on any standing poles up to the hospital to restore power by about 9AM. Getting power back onto the town center was interesting, there was a fast food store on the other side of the road from the power station, when the line crew put power back on (they had disconnected each business prior to powering up that area) there was this amazing light show in the roof.

It took well over a week to restore power to most of Port and South Hedland, the fab shop was working 24 hours a day making new poles from railway line, line crews came from Mount Newman, mine site and were flowen in from Perth etc. The link from the town (lead station) to the new Redbank station half way to South Headland was prostate on the road, so Redbank was fired up to supply South Hedland, one 5.5 MW engine at that stage.

Cat 4&5 storms are not nice but like excreta they happen, my jungle home is 5 Klm back from the beach and surrounded by trees and has stood for near 20 years so hopefully will survive any local onslaught.

A of J
"I like this place and willingly could waste my time in it" - (Act II, Scene IV).
 
Barry T Coles

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Joined: 30/07/2009
Location: Australia
Posts: 109
Posted: 12:42am 03 Feb 2012
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Interesting read Allan

I was in Port Hedland 1968/69 working on the Mount Newman Iron Ore project, now live in Karratha.

Port Hedland has changed a lot since those days except for the hospital, the one you are talking about was badly damaged in TC Joan so the put up temporary transportable donger’s until the hospital was rebuilt or replaced.

Well they got around to replacing it alright but it took 35 years to do so & the Regional hospital for this vast Pilbara Region operated out of those donger’s all that time one would hope that it doesn’t take that long to rebuild those effected by Yassi.

Ok I’m off me soap box.
Cheers
Barry

I need to learn from the mistakes of others.
I dont have the time to make them all myself.
 
windlight
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Joined: 03/03/2007
Location: Australia
Posts: 331
Posted: 02:09am 03 Feb 2012
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Hi Barry, yes it was a bit wasted but not totally out, I left some time after Joan (single) and returned a little while later (married) stayed 2.5 years that time, a record for me at that time.

My first child was born in that hospital, delivered by Dr Eggelston who was to later become the shire presedent, for most of you who would not know he is a dwaf, quite interesting to see him on a box delivering a child.

I don't know how I blundered into Glenn's thread but I did have an interesting 27 years operating power stations. Apologies to Glenn for hyjacking this thread.

Have you retired to Karatha or do you still have your nose to the grindstone.

A of J
"I like this place and willingly could waste my time in it" - (Act II, Scene IV).
 
Bryan1

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Joined: 22/02/2006
Location: Australia
Posts: 1189
Posted: 07:23am 03 Feb 2012
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G'day Guys,
I was living in Pt Hedland in the early 2000's when cyclone Steve came thru and flattened the Whim Creek pub. That was a cat 5 too and power was out for 5 days and I lived on the same beachfront road as the hospital.

Anyway we followed the trusty but true tradition of stocking up the bathtub with ice and beer, moving the bbq into the laundry, had plenty of candles and porta lights for the duration and man was it a wail of a time. For 5 days we were plastered with the only power coming from a genset in the back yard outhouse and the house we were in was one of the most shabby houses on the road BUT on stilts and got thru unscathed. Houses that had bricked under the house suffered major damage. One of the biggest laugh's I ever seen was my mate reckoned after day 3 it would be OK to open the front door, so when he opened it it slammed open and had him pinned. After we got off the floor laughing it all 3 of us to close the door again and inside was a mess. On day 4 in the arvo all tanked up it had calmed down a bit and I walked across the road and put my back to the wind and bent backwards. My mate took a pic of me leaning into wind and I was just over the 45 degree mark. When I stood up I was flown a good 10 metres down the road too.

Now cyclone alley is about 100K's NNW of Pt Heland and is open country with plenty of huge drought buster cattle. I did hear the sea retracted a couple of K's and the cattle went out looking for food but when the sea returned over 2,000 dead drought busters washed up on the beach. It was said the stench could be smelt 30K away and talking with a couple of guys that did the cleanup said it will be a long time before they eat beef again (and these were beefy guys too..).

Cyclones can be dangerous but when one is in an old shabby house that has stood the test of time being wasted is the best thing as if the house did collapse there was nothing one could so may aswell go out with a bang.....

Before I left Pt Heldand as soon as cyclone watch came on all the bottlo's would run out of booze because they shut every bottlo down as soon as any alert came thru.

They were good ol times and just go figure I bought my first house in Sth Hedand for 39K off the main roads dept and sold it 18 months later for 90 K. Today that same house is worth close to or more than 1 million.

Anyway we got the farm I always wanted in SA and been thru a flashflood, earthquake and seen quite a few 100K+ winds go thru but 8 years off the grid and still loving it....

Cheers Bryan

P.S. This rant took 2.3 Pale Ale Stubbies to write....... Edited by Bryan1 2012-02-04
 
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