Thousands flee Cyclone Yasi

Greg Ansley and Amelia Wade in the New Zealand Herald: Tens of thousands of Queenslanders and holidaymakers were last night fleeing their homes or battening down to face what authorities fear will become the biggest storm in the state's recorded history. Cyclone Yasi was moving rapidly across the Pacific from Vanuatu and was forecast to directly strike Cairns and the far north coast shortly after midnight tonight (NZT), although conditions are likely to become potentially lethal from this morning.

With Queensland still reeling from flooding, Premier Anna Bligh warned: "This storm is huge and it is life-threatening." But as extra flights raced to evacuate residents, hospitals and tourists from mainland towns and Whitsunday resort islands before airports closed, Ms Bligh said the state was "not battle-weary - we're battle hardened".

Yasi is expected to hit the coast as a category four cyclone, larger and more intense than Cyclone Larry, which hammered far north Australia in March 2006, taking no lives but causing damage estimated at A$1.5 billion ($1.8 billion).

Winds at their worst could slam into coastal communities at up to 280km/h, weakening towards the cyclone's outer rim - but still dangerous and destructive between Cooktown and Townsville - and possibly affecting towns as far inland as Mt Isa, 900km from the coast….

The track of Tropical Cyclone Yasi. Created by Keith Edkins and Iune using Wikipedia:WikiProject Tropical cyclones/Tracks. The background image is from NASA. Tracking data is from the Joint Typhoon Warning Center. Wikimedia Commons, under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License, Version 1.2 or any later version