[Dixielandjazz] Re: A Note of safe wishes for our mates downunder

[Bill Haesler]

Dear Tom,
Thank you for your concern.
Thankfully, cyclone Larry, is about 2000 miles north of us here in Sydney.
About the equivalent of Florida from New York.
Melbourne, where Ross lives, is another 600 miles further south.
Graham on the other hand is about 800 miles closer to it all.
Oz is a BIG country, for all our 20 million people.
But I would not want to be up there at the moment.
The cyclone has had no affect here in Sydney. Apart from bringing some rain.
However, we do have a few jazz friends up north where it is happening.
So far, fortunately, we have had no reports of any major problems for them.
The damage seems to have been confined to low-lying coastal areas, as usual.
Unfortunately, the annual Australian banana crop appears to have been wiped
out.
There is another big cyclone sitting out at sea to the east, as you will
note in the report below.
Kind regards,
Bill. 


>From this morning's Sydney Morning Herald.

  Cyclone Larry has weakened to a tropical low but is continuing to bring
heavy rain across remote far north Queensland.
  Larry yesterday wreaked destruction on several towns after it crossed the
coast at Innisfail, bringing 290kph winds which carved a path of destruction
through the region.
  The cyclone had been upgraded to a category-five system shortly before it
reached the coast, making it one of the most powerful storms ever to hit
Queensland.
  Already, authorities are preparing for the arrival of a second cyclone,
Wati, this week.
  The Tropical Cyclone Warning Centre today said Larry had been downgraded
to a severe low-pressure system and was now well inland and moving
south-west, making it a little threat to lives or property.
  "It's out in very remote cattle country south of the Gulf of Carpentaria,
near Iffley Station," senior forecaster Jeff Callaghan said.
  "It's been downgraded to a severe tropical low, so it's still causing some
decent wind gusts of up to 100kph."
  There were no serious reports of flooding because Larry was moving quite
quickly, he said.
  Mr Callaghan said Cyclone Wati was a category-two system but was expected
to intensify to a category-three storm today.
  Wati was 850km east-north-east of Mackay and was moving towards the coast
at 25kph, he said.
  It was expected to move towards Townsville for the next couple of days
before turning sharply south on Thursday and tracking parallel to the
Queensland coast.
  "There should be some pretty wild weather between Mackay and Fraser Island
later in the week," Mr Callaghan said.