> For those who do not know, I come from Innisfail, North Queensland. For those who don't keep up with the news, check the link.
>
> We have been thoroughly Larry'd.
>
> This is the first Cat5 cyclone to ever make landfall here in Australia. Even the worst cyclone on record, in 1918, is estimated to have been Cat4.
>
> Thankfully, our house sustained embaresingly little damage. One branch from the large trees that surround and protect it hit the gutter on a corner of the roof, damaging it. We'll get up there and put the gutter back together shortly.
>
> Power has just been restored to the internet cafe` where I work. It's still probably a few days away at home. Some places will be waiting 2 weeks.
>
> A major miricle is that there were no deaths directly related, and no serious injuries. 2 elderly people suffered heart atacks in the hours before and after.
>
> I'll give you some more info tomorrow. Rest assured we are all well, and coping, well, reasonably.

It's always good to hear an encouraging story like that. I've been an avid hurricane watcher since I rode out one in 1949. These days we would call it a cat 3 or cat 4, but back then it was "a bad one." My second one was in 1950, not too bad, but the wind was over 100 mph all night long. Since then, I have lived about 600 kilometers inland and all we get from tropical systems is rain.

I was watching Larry and thinking about what happened to New Orleans last year. I knew that one was going to be a humdinger as soon as it entered the Gulf of Mexico.

I hope assistance will be quick and effective. It may be a few more days before we get the whole picture and know how bad Larry really was.

I had to whip out the old National Geographic Atlas to find you, but there you are on the northeast shore facing the Coral Sea. It looks like about 80 or 90 kilometers south of Cairns. Maybe the Great Barrier Reef provided some protection from the storm surge.

I remember the feeling of having won, when I walked out after the '49 hurricane and saw the distruction that I had survived.
Howard