In for a blow

[Rock]

Looks like we might be in for a bit of a blow tomorrow (Friday)
Category 4/5 Tropical Cyclone Marcia is off the Central Queensland Coast and predicted to hit the Coast around 0700 Friday morning.
In terms of wind strength we are talking 280kph plus so we are kind of hoping it will hit an uninhabited part of the coast.
Some small communities in the path have evacuated but the towns and cities are battening down.
My city is 30 klms inland with some mountainous protection to the East so unless it crosses the coast intact and keeps on truckin' we should just get a big blow and lots of rain.
There has been the usual panic buying of bread, milk, bottled water etc. by the panic merchants who clean out the supermarkets and then end up dumping it when its not needed. They do this everytime there's a Cyclone warning. Some of them must have a garage full of baked beans and canned peaches.
Keep the fingers crossed for us.

[Psmith]

Hold tight and stay safe Rocky.
I've experienced a few of these myself.

[SUBversive]

Good luck. Stay safe

[Floorguy]

Stay safe Rock!!

[wantonebad]

Be safe, the most destructive force there is, hope it steers clear!

[GerardoG]

Stay safe

[Wllnv19]

Stay safe Rock..

[GB-man]

Stay safe!

[brandrea]

Be safe, I hope it passes without incident

[cop414]

Stay safe Rock, let us know how you make out.

[Rock]

Well, the next couple of hours will tell.
The Cyclone has just crossed the coast at the Shoalwater Bay military training area about 80 klms north of here (this is where the joint US/Aus exercises take place each year).
It's always hard to predict the track of these things, particularly after they hit land. On it's present course it could track down the coast to the resort town of Yeppoon or come down a bit inland right through my City. Either way it looks like we are going to get a bit of a blow. It's pretty gusty here at present and very wet, but not scary yet.
Still rated a 4/5 but sometimes they blow out quickly once they cross the coast. Here's hoping.
I'll make sure I have a coffee before there is any chance of a loss of power!

[Laszlo]

Stay safe.

[Bangel]

Stay safe Rocky.

[Viv Savage]

Saw it on the TV. Hope it blows over.

[Wllnv19]

Hi Rock, hope all is well..

[Rockrolex]

Saw it on TV last night, Rocky. Hope all goes well for you and your power stays up and your coffee remains hot.

[MonBK]

Keeping fingers crossed.

[Rock]

I'm Back!
Thanks for the well-wishes guys, much appreciated.
The Cyclone went right over us at about 1.30pm Friday doing a fair bit of damage to the coast but less to my city as it is somewhat protected by a mountain range. My home is nestled in the foothills of the mountain and suffered no damage at all, although there are smashed trees all around, many blocking roads. Power and water went down when the cyclone hit as it felled thousands of trees, many across power lines.
We got water back this morning which was a huge relief, but most of the city still has no power. I am typing this from my son's office in the city, where we plan to spend the night as temperatures have been over the ton, day and night since the event, with high humidity as well.
This was nothing like the nightmere of Hurricane Katrina where thousands of properties were destroyed and inundated and lives lost.
Some years ago I was part of a disaster recovery team that went to the far North when a wide area was devastated by a much more severe cyclone. I am pleased to say it was nothing like that. We were lucky.
The four days since the event have been spent carting water and chasing ice to keep food in edible condition. Gas barbecues are a real lifesaver.
All but a few thousand folks are still in their own homes just hangin' in there waiting for the power to come back on. (1800 power lines down)
It's amazing the sense of 'community' that a disaster brings producing a real sense of cohesiveness that you wouldn't normally see. What a pity we couldn't be this way all the time.
So, hopefully back to normal in a few days as I am missing the camaraderie of TRF. I will try to get some photos tomorrow now that things have settled down a bit. Cheers.

[cop414]

Happy that you're safe and suffered no damage.

[Alcan]

Good to hear you came through it ok.

[toph]

Glad to hear you're safe!

[Rock]

Well, it's just about back to normal for most of the area (apart from a massive clean-up and sizeable reconstruction).
Our power came back on yesterday after 7 days without. What a relief. I wasn't relishing the idea of another weekend sitting in the dark on Saturday night, reading a book with a torch. (but still heaps better off than the poor buggers who lost their roofs)
95% of the power losses was due to big trees that fell on power lines.
If Councils, Power companies and homeowners would keep them away from the power lines the power problems would have been non-existent.
Supermarkets are being hit hard as people who get the power back stock up again. Fortunately bread & milk are not on my shopping list.
Gonna have some friends round Saturday night and celebrate restoration of power with some wine and good food.
Thanks once again for your good wishes.

Normally about a foot of water in this creek at the back of the supermarket. It eventually swamped the ground floor.

[Bangel]

Pretty amazing photo Rocky.

So good to hear things are returning to some semblance of normality around your area.

[sleddog]

Ergon cerainly had a lot to do in order to restore the power to thousands of homes....not to mention the Emergency responders balancing thousands of distress calls.

Glad you came through relatively unscathed mate. Many lost a lot more as you had mentioned... Times like these bring the best out in people, I can only hope the recovery is quick!!

[East Bay Rider]

Glad you made it out the other side unscathed.

[HL65]

Glad you are ok and hope everyone who got hit hard recovers soon!

[dddrees]

Glad to hear your Ok.

[linesiders]

Your description could have been listed from any one of the storms we have had here the past few years.

Glad you guys made it OK overall.

[Rock]

Exactly LS - so many of us in all parts of the world are experiencing a variety of extreme weather - snowstorms, hurricanes, cyclones etc. all very trying in their own particular ways. There are still parts of our area without power and now that I have it back I am starting to think about what I can do for those folks. It is bad enough when you are young and resilient but it must be tough for the elderly and infirm.
We had a great night of wine and good food with friends but tomorrow I think we might have to have a look around and see who still needs a bit of assistance.
Appreciate all the good wishes.