A monster category 5 cyclone (hurricane) is bearing down on Far North Queensland (FNQ). Anyone who remembers the 1987 UK storms that battered the UK should be reminded that those winds reached up to 180km/h. The Yasi winds have already reached 295km/h and are expecting to landfall in FNQ the next few hours.

I consider FNQ a home and have many friends there battening down the hatches in preparation. Most cyclone shelters are already turning away shelter seekers due to capacity being reached. The storm surge coincides with a high tide and much of the CBD will be inundated with floods. I wouldn't be surprised if the toll from this event exceeds that from the floods in Southern Queensland just a couple of weeks ago.

That doesn't sound good. Let's hope that... well, you know.

What 'e said.

Fingers crossed

That sounds bloody terrifying.

From the BBC:

I've been on the tail end of a couple of cyclones, category 2 or 3, and fortunately was on a boat where we could steam away from the eye. This beast is enormous.

From a satellite's perspective, tropical storms always appear so beautiful.

You could drop the whole of Britain in that storm, and it would never be seen again

I can't even imagine 300Kph winds. Remember the power goes up as the cube of the speed, so 300Kph is 4.6x the destructive power of 180Kph...

It must be gutting to sit there waiting for it, knowing that the lives and homes of many people you know are going to be inevitably destroyed.

One of the last houses I lived at in Cairns is more then 2km from the shore, and yet it is part of the evacuation zones because of its minimal height above sea level.

All houses in FNQ since 1975 have to be built to withstand a Cat5 cyclone, but there are many built before that year that are still standing, for how long I'm not sure.

Well it will be loose debris that does a lot of damage. So hopefully you will have things sorted before it arrives. How common are cyclones there? Are they rare?

Not there atm, been in the Uk since December. Anyway Queensland can expect 3-5 cyclones per year and 1 of those to cross the coast. Being a La Nina period that increases to 4-6 and 1.5, with intensity also rising.