URGENT PRAYER ALERT: North Queensland Rocked by Cyclone Yasi

Aimee Herd : Feb 2, 2011
News Staff - The Australian

[UPDATE: FEB. 2, 2011/11:00 AM PT] The Australian shares some of the first reports from the huge cyclone that slammed into the northeast coast of Australia on Wednesday:

"North Queensland residents will learn at first light just how destructive Yasi has been after a terrifying night where the region was battered by the worst cyclone in living memory.

"Yasi slammed into the coast near Mission Beach midway between Innisfail and the evacuated town of Cardwell, 1500km north of Brisbane, about midnight local time (1am AEDT).

"Early reports suggest the communities of Mission Beach, nearby Tully, and Innisfail, 50km north of ground zero, are the worst hit.

"But Yasi's fury has been felt hundreds of kilometres away, in Cairns to the north, and Townsville to the south, and all the places in between.

"And Yasi, with its wind gusts of up to 290km/h, is far from done with north Queensland."

Read more on this report by accessing the source link provided.

[UPDATE: FEB. 2, 2011/7:30 AM PT] Cyclone Yasi began roaring ashore in Northeast Queensland on Wednesday, hitting between Innisfail and Cardwell, and with the eye of the storm passing directly over Tully.

CLICK HERE for local Australian coverage from 3AW-693 NewsTalk, or CLICK HERE for a Twitter feed on Cyclone Yasi.

After enduring devastating floods, Australians in the northeast portion of the country are now preparing for Cyclone Yasi, which is expected to make landfall on Wednesday night.

Yasi was upgraded last night to a category 5 storm, which could hurl winds of 175 MPH over the already flooded area.

According to a REUTERS report, about 400,000 people live in the cyclone?s prospected path.

A warning from Queensland disaster officials said, "Severe tropical cyclone Yasi is a large and very powerful tropical cyclone that poses an extremely serious threat to life and property. This impact is likely to be more life threatening than any experienced during recent generations."

Please keep Australia in your prayers.

In addition, unusually wild weather activity is happening in the US, as a winter storm that stretched some 2,000 miles across America's heartland, roared in on Tuesday and has paralyzed nearly a third of the country.