CAIRNS AND PAT & MIKE WOOLFORD'S AFTERMATH OF CYCLONE LARRY
 

I have just had an email from Pat Woolford saying that they were OK except for a couple of trees that are in their grounds . She was using a generator for the computer so I don't expect she will be posting anything on here for a while until the electricity is back on again - which Pat said could take one week.
The little town of Babinda near Innisfail suffered a lot of damage ( about 80% ) to homes and businesses and about 100% of the crops have gone as well. One person has described the cyclone as sounding like 10 jets taking off at once and at close proximity.

Thanks for passing on the update from Pat, lizF. Glad to hear she and Mike are basically okay.

Sorry to hear about Babinda. This doesn't help the folks in Babinda and Innisfail, but I guess it's fortunate that the eye of the storm didn't hit larger population centres (or at least it didn't from what I've heard so far).

Even so, it seems that the authorities can take some credit for the fact that there have been no fatalities (according to reports I'm reading). It seems that their evacuation measures were effective.

We've been trying, unsuccessfully till now, to contact a friend in Townsville to check how he is. I imagine he's okay. From what I've been able to ascertain, Townsville didn't cop it as badly as it might have done.

Hi Judy

Phones are down everywhere, it sounds as if they're ringing out but probably means whoever you're calling is there. No injuries reported in Townsville, terrible mess in Innisfail and surrounding farming country, but miraculously, no casualties.

Thanks for posting, Pat and Liz. They were just showing Cairns on the news here--not pretty.... the footage reminded me of my former life in Florida!!

Glad to hear you haven't fared too badly, Pat. I assume you are still nursing the generator along.
Hopefully Cyclone ?Wattie peters out before it meets the land.
My heart goes out to those poor sugar cane and banana farmers. Speaking from some experience I know how it will affect them for several years to come.