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Showing posts with label Cyclone. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Cyclone. Show all posts

Cyclone Yasi likely to have ravaged Great Barrier Reef

Category: , , , By Echo

Cyclone Yasi hit the Great Barrier Reef as it was recovering from devastation caused by coral bleaching and crown-of-thorns starfish. Photograph: Grant Faint/Getty Images

On its way to ravaging cities and towns in north Queensland, severe tropical cyclone Yasi will almost certainly have left a swath of destruction on the Great Barrier Reef off Townsville.

Early last month, as floods struck southern Queensland, I accompanied a team of divers from the Australian Institute of Marine Science on an expedition to a 300-mile part of the reef – a fifth of the 1,400-mile-long World Heritage Area.

The researchers dived 13 reefs – from Myrmidon, which is 75 miles out to sea, to areas around the inshore Palm Island group, just off the mainland. Much of what we saw was spectacular and showed the reef recovering from a decade of devastation caused by coral bleaching and crown-of-thorns starfish, both of which have been responsible for large areas of coral mortality.

It may be weeks or months before scientists can fully survey and assess the damage from cyclone Yasi but, based on the effect of previous large cyclones, they will not be optimistic. Tropical cyclones generate huge waves, which pulverise coral reefs into rubble.

In March 2009, category four tropical cyclone Hamish travelled in an unusual path from north to south, tracking parallel to the coast and not making landfall. It is estimated to have affected a quarter of the Great Barrier Reef.

A year later I was able to dive in one of the areas hit by cyclone Hamish, also with scientists from the Australian Institute of Marine Science. Much of what we saw at the Swains, at the southern end of the Great Barrier Reef, was denuded of life. Numerous coral bommies, many the size of big cars, had been lifted up on to the reef flat by the force of the storm. It can take years, or even decades, for such a coral ecosystem to recover fully.

Scientists fear that as climate change tightens its grip devastating storms such as cyclones Yasi and Hamish will become more frequent and intense. However, it is not just the direct impacts of these storms that can damage the reef.

In the wake of the Queensland flooding, a coral ecologist at the Australian Institute of Marine Science, Dr Katharina Fabricius, warned that floodwaters carrying high nutrient loads from agricultural and urban catchments could lead to outbreaks of crown-of-thorns starfish. The starfish feed on coral, quickly denuding entire reefs.

Last year Fabricius and her colleagues published new evidence that nutrients in floodwaters provide food to the starfish larvae, increasing their survivability.

These are nervous days for the marine biologists who study the Great Barrier Reef and the authorities responsible for its good health.
 

Cyclone Yasi batters northern Australia

Category: , By Echo
Melbourne: The most powerful cyclone to hit Australia in generations has affected over 170,000 people in flood-ravaged northern Queensland province, uprooting trees, tearing off roofs and cutting electricity.
Cyclone Yasi was the worst cyclone that hit the country since 1918. Over 170,000 residents in the affected region were without power and for many it would take a month to get back electricity, according to latest media reports.
Ergon Energy spokesman John Stock said that early reports indicated damage was worse than experienced during Cyclone Larry in 2006. There have been hundreds of reports of fallen power poles and damaged power lines. Witnesses reported roofs being ripped off, buildings shaking and trees flattened under the power of the winds.


No deaths or serious injuries have been reported. Amid the chaos and devastation of cyclone Yasi, a baby girl was also born at one of the Cairns evacuation centres at 6:09 am (local time). The damage was severe across Tully, Mission Beach and Cardwell. Early reports suggest the communities of Mission Beach, where the category 5 cyclone made landfall about midnight, nearby Tully and Innisfail, 50 km north of ground zero were the worst hit.
The Cyclone Yasi brought 340 mm of rain in some areas with the stretch between Ingham and Mission Beach getting 200-230 mm. Queenslanders were now assessing how destructive Yasi was after a terrifying night.
"It's a great relief this morning to be able to say at this time we have no report of casualties, serious injuries or any fatalities," Queensland Premier Anna Bligh said. She said the picture in the region would become clearer as reports will come from smaller and isolated communities.
Meanwhile, immediate threat to coastal communities from a second storm surge still loomed but was reduced this morning and residents were now being allowed to return back to some affected areas. Flood alerts remained in place in some areas as river levels continue to rise.
Prime Minister Julia Gillard also asked north Queenslanders to not let their guard down in the wake of Cyclone Yasi, saying the storm was still dangerous.
Gillard said people needed to stay alert and listen to the advice of emergency services workers."Surging tides, powerlines that are down, flooding danger and there are some parts of Queensland that are bracing for the cyclone to come across land and to still hit," she said in Canberra.