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What's the maximum category a cyclone can be? I'm pretty sure it's five, which is what we're facing today. I have flown into the biggest cyclone ever to have hit Queensland. It's 8am and I've already been evacuated from a seemingly sturdy hostel that has easily dealt with a category four cyclone to a school hall that looks like it'd struggle with a light breeze. It has a tin foil and corrugated iron roof and it is slowly filling with people after the university was declared full.
So, being in a storm like this must be pretty exciting, huh? Well, no. Actually it seems like a whole day and night of waiting around in a noisy hall full of crying babies while the building flaps and tries not to fall on our heads.
So, how and why did I actually get here? I already have a flight booked from Cairns to Sydney on 12th Feb. This was booked when I planned to do the east coast, but then it flooded. So I went to Melbourne and decided to link up here. I didn't bother checking the weather - who does? - so I ended up here two days before the biggest storm in Australia's history. I reckon I must murder people in my sleep for all the bad karma I'm getting with Aussie weather. I spent most of yesterday - my first day here - marvelling at the lack of bread and the abundance of shoppers in the supermarkets. I also got stopped by another born-again Christian and this time got to speak a bit more of my mind. He seemed ok with it.
At first, we were only going to move around in the hostel to the most defended rooms, that changed when the forecast showed cyclone Yasi heading almost directly for Cairns.
2pm: Blue sky! What the heck is going on? An hour ago we had heavy wind and a good breeze going. Now it just feels like another thundery warm day. I've passed the time by playing cricket with a tennis ball and a packed bedsheet that was sent along with mattresses to the shelter. A lot of the folks here were joining in, which was good. Originally the doors were planned to be shut at 12:15pm sharp. Now it seems the forecast has the cyclone moving south and hitting somewhere closer to Townsville and the doors are still open. Laura and Ryan have been evacuated from there. Hope they're safe too.
We'll get another update soon, but right now I'm happy to be outside with an occasional breeze rather than in the stuffy hall, which is now full.
7pm: I've just finished my meal of sweet chilli tuna and baked beans and I've heard that the cyclone has moved north. That means it's now heading closer to Cairns than expected this afternoon. We may get some excitement after all! It's now pretty dark and we'll be moved inside soon, I expect.
10pm: We were moved inside about an hour ago and we're getting some power outages, but on the whole everything seems to be going smoothly. That is apart from the sudden deafening wail of the smoke alarm that is pulsating through the building. We can't exactly go outside now can we? Ah, bliss, it has now stopped for the second time. Cue baby noises.
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