Cyclone Yasi reportedly hits Queensland, Australia with Category 5 force

After weathering some of the worst flooding in the area’s history, residents of Queensland in Australia are now feeling the fury of Tropical Cyclone Yasi, a Category 5 storm packing heavy rains and winds of almost 300 mp-h.
Yasi has been compared to Hurricane Katrina, a Category 3 storm that flooded New Orleans in 2005, in terms of its force.
Yasi has reportedly made landfall in Queensland with gust speeds of up to 290 mp-h. It has also created storm surges featuring waves between eight and nine feet high.
Reports say Yasi’s storm track is similar to that of Tropical Cyclone Larry, a Category 4 storm that left nearly $1.5 billion worth of damage in its wake. Larry’s heaviest rains dumped 500 mm of rain on Queensland.
Insured flood losses in Queensland in 2010-11 have already reached the $1.1-billion mark. Catastrophe modeler AIR Worldwide notes Yasi is predicted to dump a further 200 mm to 400 mm of rain on the area.
“Queensland is in serious danger of another round of extreme flooding this week,” AIR Worldwide says in a storm update. “In addition to the storm’s damaging winds and storm surge, Yasi will bring torrential rains to already saturated soil.
“Although cyclone Yasi is currently expected to impact areas to the north of Brisbane and areas heavily flooded earlier in the month, a more southerly turn in storm track could dramatically change the flooding potential. Precipitation estimates are on the order of 200-400 mm, with amounts as high as half a meter possible.”
Local reports are already confirming AIR’s expectation of the damage caused by high winds. “At Category 3 or 4 wind speeds, damage is expected to be significant,” AIR says.
“Structural damage to houses and buildings may occur, particularly to rooftops, while windows and cladding on engineered structures could be damaged by impact from debris.
“Many trees will likely be uprooted and snapped, blocking roadways or damaging homes and automobiles.”
One factor potentially limiting the damage, AIR says, is that “strong building codes have been in place since the 1960s in north Queensland, and they will help mitigate the effects of high winds and associated debris.”