Pray for us Guys - Deadly cyclone about to hit

[rosie]

We are not in Nth QLD but my family is. And, many other aussies about to be lashed with a cyclone category 4/ predicting it will be 5 - bigger /more powerful than Katrina hitting our coastline within the next 24 hours. I've just heard from a friend who is in the path of the storm who IS NOT evacuating!!?!?!?!?! That the rains have already started, and it is very eerie.

See here:

http://sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-..._5929809_n.jpg

And for size perspective.... It's bigger than the United Kingdom :(

http://i.imgur.com/D7QUm.jpg

Hoping something miraculous happens and it suddenly dies, but that is not realistic.

:((

[Crisodian]

You guys are in my thoughts and prayers.

We're in the path of the comming blizzard here. 2 feet+ of snow and 60 mph winds. Ugly!

~C~

[rosie]

Oh my...a blizzard, how very scary! :(

Hope you guys are okay.

[rosie]

OMG Cris, this bit really... impacted me:

* OTHER IMPACTS... THE HEAVY NATURE OF THE SNOW WILL MAKE SHOVELING EXTREMELY DIFFICULT... AND POTENTIALLY DEADLY. DURING AND IMMEDIATELY FOLLOWING THE BLIZZARD OF 1999 OVER 40 PEOPLE IN THE CHICAGO AREA ALONE LOST THEIR LIVES TO HEART ATTACKS WHILE SHOVELING THE HEAVY SNOWFALL. IF YOU MUST SHOVEL THE SNOW... TAKE FREQUENT BREAKS INDOORS AND DO NOT UNDERESTIMATE THE TASK AT HAND.

Seriously? I never would have imagined HEART attacks from shovelling! Wow.

So if it snows 4 inches an hour for say... 5 hours??? How the heck do you get your car out? Do people there have wood heaters or electric ones? If the latter... is it cold enough for people to freeze to death if there is a power outage? Sorry for ominous questions but I know nothing about blizzards. Scary!!!

The weather is so extreme everywhere. I am currently sitting outside at 2am in (roughly) 109 F heat. Cannot sleep in this heat, and very worried about this cyclone :(

[deadmonkey]

Thougts and prayers go out to all of you, check in once it passes.

[Crisodian]

Right. Not a fun place to be in right now.

We have a generator if needed for power and heat. And we shovel often. Very often. Ugh. And shovel...and shovel....and shovel.....

And something fun to consider, the moisture content of this snow, as they are reporting, is about 10 to 1 ...which translates to the moisture content in 10 inchs of snow is like(equal to) 1 inches of rain.

Going to be a wet spring. :/

And a long 48 hours....

Now. Go tell your friends to GET OUT of the path of that storm! We can't escape our weather because there's no where to run. LOL But they can.

[rosie]

Right. Not a fun place to be in right now.

We have a generator if needed for power and heat. And we shovel often. Very often. Ugh. And shovel...and shovel....and shovel.....

And something fun to consider, the moisture content of this snow, as they are reporting, is about 10 to 1 ...which translates to the moisture content in 1 inch of snow is like(equal to) 10 inches of rain.

Going to be a wet spring. :/

And a long 48 hours....

Don't shovel too much /:) Right so the moisture content makes it heavier? Get it now. Interesting. So its sludgy??? :( That would be so hard to shovel.

Now. Go tell your friends to GET OUT of the path of that storm! We can't escape our weather because there's no where to run. LOL But they can.

No its too late. To get out of the storm path you have to drive 9 to 12 hours....and most of the highways are blocked by evacuees, or if they aren't...they are expecting the storm to produce flooding so they won't be able to get home for who knows how long if they do flee?. Also, the airports are closing down and are charging $1,000 per ticket out of there (disgusting!!!). There are some forced evacuations but many people are staying there. Why are people like this? Makes me so angry!

But...if it was me, i'd be outta there any way.. any how. Apparently many of the houses up there are cyclone resistant, but nothing can really withstand a cat 5.... :(

My family isn't right where the eye is meant to hit, but they are close. I just wish it would go back to sea!! The area being hit has just been devastated by floods and is in a state of emergency already. Poor buggers :(

[Crisodian]

Don't shovel too much /:) Right so the moisture content makes it heavier? Get it now. Interesting. So its sludgy??? :( That would be so hard to shovel.

And yeah I typed the moisture content a$$ backwards...LOL

But yes. It's heavy wet snow. Not the light, fluffy fun stuff. So it makes shoveling and clean up that much crappier.

No its too late. To get out of the storm cell you have to drive 9 to 12 hours....and most of the highways are blocked by evacuees, or if they aren't...they are expecting the storm to produce flooding so they won't be able to get home for who knows how long?. Also, the airports are closing down and are charging $1,000 per ticket out of there (disgusting!!!).

That's not good. Similar to what happenes in hurricane season here in the US. But it's better to be on high ground and alive, then home and not. Right?

But...if it was me, i'd be outta there any way.. any how. Apparently many of the houses up there are cyclone resistant, but nothing can really withstand a cat 5....

My family isn't right where the eye is meant to hit, but they are close. I just wish it would go back to sea!! The area being hit has just been devastated by floods and is in a state of emergency already. Poor buggers :(

I'm with you. Out of the way. And Cat 5 is nothing to mess with. I dont care how good a home is built. There is still only so much water and wind they can take. :(

Sounds like wicked weather no matter where we look these days.

[rosie]

Well yeah, the eye is twice as wide as Katrina.... but it is still a cat 4, but they reckon it will get to a cat 5 by the time it hits.

We have many cyclones up in that area, but none as big as this. Media are calling it a "Monstor". Also NEVER seen the government completely evacuate all hospitals before.... :-o If it wasn't so scary and destructive it would actually be fascinating, to witness that sort of power. Sadly though.. there will be casualties :(

Well, GL Cris. Hope you get some pics of the blizzard while you rest from shovelling :/ Would love to see what it looks like.

Stay safe wontcha!

[Crisodian]

Stay safe wontcha!

You and yours as well.

I'll see if I can catch some good pics of the snowfall and post them in an album later. :)