March 11, 2005
SYDNEY, Australia (AP) _ A powerful cyclone packing winds of 140 mph crossed the northeast Australian coast near a remote Aboriginal community Thursday, but there were no immediate reports of injuries or substantial damage in the sparsely populated area.
Cyclone Ingrid is the most powerful storm to hit the Queensland state coast in more than three decades.
It is expected to bring a storm surge of about seven feet on top of rising tides, likely flooding low-lying coastal areas in northern Queensland, the Tropical Cyclone Warning Center said. The category 4 storm crossed the shoreline at dawn about 19 miles southeast of the Lockhart River community, where 700 residents were evacuated to shelters early Wednesday.
"Outside trees are bending and branches are coming down,'' Lockhart River Council chief executive officer Peter Buckland said from a shelter at the community police station. "We are just waiting to see what happens and hoping it doesn't come right over us.''
Ingrid was expected to weaken as it barreled west across Cape York Peninsula but then strengthen as it tracked across the Gulf of Carpentaria, said warning center supervising meteorologist Phil Alford.
Many people along a 220-mile stretch of the Queensland coast evacuated their homes ahead of the cyclone. Residents packed sandbags, felled trees and gathered emergency supplies. The Queensland state government reported the area around Lockhart River appeared to have escaped any major damage or injuries from the cyclone.
Severe cyclones are the Southern Hemisphere equivalent to tropical storms and hurricanes in the Northern Hemisphere.
SOURCE: Live Science