Queensland Assesses Damage, Rebuilds After Cyclone Yasi Cuts Swath Through North

Still reeling from last month's floods, the Australian state of Queensland was dealt the other half of a one-two punch from nature when the most powerful cyclone to hit Australia in nearly a century made landfall south of Cairns on Feb. 3rd.

Getty Images- Daily Mail

Cyclone Yasi made landfall at Mission Beach, Queensland on the morning of Feb 3rd as a Category 5 storm (stronger than Hurricane Katrina when she made landfall in 2005) bringing with it winds of more than 180 miles an hour and storm surges more than 20 ft high.

Yasi ripped across the coast near Cairns on Wednesday night, tearing apart dozens of homes and damaging hundreds more, cutting power to tens of thousands of people and flattening millions of dollars worth of crops.

Police and army personnel moved through the storm-savaged coastal town of Tully Heads on Saturday, going door-to-door accounting for residents.

Officials spray painted "No Go" as a warning on the worst-hit homes. A few houses were reduced to rubble. A layer of brown sludge covered the ground, leaving a sickening smell wafting throughout the community.

The massive surge of water ripped through homes, taking out walls and pushing resident's belongings into other people's houses and yards.

Residents spent Saturday sifting through the wreckage and dragging people's possessions back to their owners.

Rob McCarrol- The Australian

Amazingly, there were no reports of fatalities in the aftermath of Cyclone Yasi. But with the flooding throughout Queensland in January causing an estimated $5 Billion in damages to the region's economy before Yasi was even fully formed as a storm, the cyclone dealt another blow to Queensland, flooding highways and railroad tracks and cutting off entire towns from the rest of the country.

Suart Mceveoy- The Australian

Mining activity was shut down throughout much of Queensland in anticipation of Yasi's arrival, but most of the state's main zinc, copper and coal mines escaped relatively undamaged from the cyclone. However, nearly half of the state's sugarcane crop was thought to have been destroyed and as much as 75% of Queensland's banana crop was wiped out in the storm. With widespread damage to roads and structures, tourism in Queensland will decline as well.

Australia's military has been pressed into service to help clear debris, reopen highways and bring in emergency supplies to those left without food, shelter or fresh water. Some 500 troops were already stationed in nearby Townsville when the cyclone hit and another 3500 are ready to mobilize.