Greenock woman in Oz cyclone
Lisa Hodge • Published 3 Feb 2011 14:00
1 Comment
A GREENOCK woman caught up in the devastating Australian cyclone told the Tele how she feared for her life as the storm hit.
Sheena McLaren Bradshaw, pictured, revealed how she was trapped inside her Queensland home in darkness through the night until Cyclone Yasi passed through Townsville, where she lives.
More than 70,000 people have been evacuated from the 63-year-old's town, which has a population of 200,000.
Most homes have suffered a blackout and Sheena, who is originally from Waverley Street in Greenock, has been barricaded in her home without power since yesterday morning
As the ferocious cyclone - which has winds of more than 180mph - started to take hold, terrified Sheena spoke of her fears.
Speaking to the Tele from her home yesterday, she said: "It's incredibly scary and, like a lot of people, I am worried for my safety and my life.
"We have been given advice about what precautions to take, but ultimately we just have to ride the storm.
"We have been advised to take shelter in the smallest room we have, so I have padded out my bathroom with quilts and cushions as well as food and water supplies - but I know we are at the mercy of mother nature.
"It's extremely frightening - almost everything is a danger.
"The winds are so strong they can lift a caravan off the ground so we have had to lock away anything which is laying around in case it turns into a flying missile."
Satellite images show Yasi is up to 500 miles in diameter with an eye more than 20 miles wide - making it the worst storm to hit Australia since 1918.
Around three feet of rain is expected to fall and, combined with a high tide, the sea will rise some 10ft and cause flooding in low-lying areas.
Winds are predicted to gust up to 186mph as the fierce storm reaches its peak.
Sheena says Yasi's scale is so huge, fleeing home would have been futile.
She said: "We could have tried to run, but you would have to drive for 15 hours before you would even begin to get out of its grip. We just didn't have time.
"The nearest refuge is Brisbane, which is 1,000 miles away, so there was really no escaping it."
Tens of thousands of people have been seeking safety in makeshift refuge centres, while those living in low-lying coastal areas have been told to evacuate their homes and stay with family and friend in higher positioned areas.
Hundreds of homes in costal towns have been destroyed while cities Caires and Townsville have been issued with further storm warnings.
This article appeared in Greenock Telegraph 03 Feb 11
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derf99z
1 post
Feb 6, 07:20
Report commentThings are finally getting back to normal. Just got power back about 1 hour ago. I went off when the destructive wind area arrive and started ripping the trees out and blowing then through the power lines. In most areas of townsville the power lines are still over head and not underground.
Power was lost to the water pumping stations so for the first 24 hours we were requested to save water.
The eye passed about 80 miles north of of here but the storm was so big that we still got winds equivalent of a cat 3 cyclone. You often hear people say the wind sounded like a railway train or a jet engine. I can now confirm that it does.
It was an intresting few days, But you take precausions, you have your emergency kit, water food, clothing etc, but the best item was a small generator that let us keep at least one freezer cold. I was in the port 3 weeks ago and I must admit I would still prefer the cyclone to the sub zero temps and freezing fog i suffered when there.
As the temps have been 27c through the night and 32 through the day since the cyclone, now that the power is on I have cranked up the air con and am going to have a lovely cool nights sleep.
Graham Wood ( ex Port Glasgow)
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