Cyclone Yasi

I thought last week was busy, it was nothing compared to this week.  We were plodding along getting ready for our very first visitor from Melbourne, Marcus' mum.  We were all excited and I had grand plans for us to go to all of these fabulous places but then 1 day before she was due to arrive I got a message from my mum to say that there was a cyclone looming off the coast and they may have to evacuate.  I hadn't seen any news headlines or anything about a cyclone and as soon as I googled Cycylone Yasi I discovered that not only was it heading for the towns between Townsville and Cairns (my home town being Townsville where majority of my family live) that it was also a category 5 cyclone and it was being compared to hurricane Katrina that wiped out New Orleans a couple of years back.  So of course I called mum on skype to find out the exact details and she told me that they had already packed as much as what they could and where to leave their town of Cardwell that afternoon.  A relief for me, sort of, the real concern now was where this cyclone would hit and how much damage there would be.  So that evening the Australia Channel that we get over here was broadcasting live throughout the night and tracking Yasi.  There was only so much of that that I could watch before giving up and going to bed. 

Upon waking up the next morning I found out that the eye of the cyclone hit the small coastal towns of Mission Beach, Tully and Cardwell and basically wiped them off the map.  I immediately called mum on her mobile using Skype again (it gives the best and clearest reception) and she said that they were OK, staying in a motel in Townsville but there was no power and no reports on how Cardwell had fared overnight and if their house was still standing.  The house they rent is one street back from the water but with direct access and views straight ahead so there would be no wind break or anything to protect the house from the full force of the storm.  So of course we are all fearing the worst. 

Over the next few days I waited and googled for as much information as I could find but in the end we all gave up and realised that we wouldn't know anything about the house until the roads were cleared and repaired and they could drive back up there.  So today I called and she told me that they just found out that the roads are open and they will be heading up to Cardwell first thing tomorrow morning to assess the damage and salvage what they can of their belongings.  Or best case scenario is that the house is still structurally sound and all that will be lost will be the appliances and stuff that they stored downstairs that would have been damaged by the storm surge that washed through the entire town, about 5 meters high they say the flood might have been.  As 99% of the residents of Cardwell were evacuated the information coming out of the town is sketchy.
So now we wont know until tomorrow the level of damage on the house and what mum and dad are going to have to do.  As mum has talked about wanting to move to NSW to be with her parents in their senior years this may be now a serious option for them if the house is uninhabitable.

During all of this Sue arrived and we had plans to do great touristy things but between Marcus becoming really busy with work and me sitting on Skype all day we haven't been able to do much.  But we did manage to do some shopping, eat out on the beach and visit a Floating Market in town and today we went and had a massage which was lovely (until the girl doing mine started talking to me and woke me up) that spoiled it a bit for me, but it was still good.  This week we will do some more markets and hopefully we will go to Bangkok this weekend and take the kids to Dream World. 

Now I am just waiting for tomorrow to get news on the house and if it is really bad I think I should fly home to help them salvage what they can and find them somewhere else to live, at least temporarily.