The forecast: Wind gusts of up to 280 kph (175 mph) and heavy rainfall were forecast by the Australian Bureau of Meteorology. Anticipating heavy rainfall, 30,000 were evacuated from low-lying areas known to be susceptible to flooding. Some good news: Wind gusts of up to 280 kmh (175 mph) were forecast by the Australian Bureau of Meteorology, but, Ita weakened to a category 4 storm just before making landfall. AND, Ita’s landfall was along a portion of the coast that is lightly populated. As a result, damage was much less than the $3.6 billion price tag of the last Category 4 cyclone that hit Australia’s Queensland State in 2011 —CYCLONE YASI. Presentation courtesy of Dr. Walter Hays, Global Alliance for Disaster Reduction

1. CYCLONE ITA: APRIL 10, 2011

2. CYCLONE ITA STRIKES
AUSTRALIA
April 10-11, 2014

3. AUSTRALIA
(Note: Queensland)

4. CYCLONE ITA: APRIL 10, 2011

5. AWAITING ITA’s LANDFALL

6. LANDFALL: APRIL 11, 2014
AROUND 10:00 PM

7. THE FORECAST
• Wind gusts of up to 280 kph (175 mph)
and heavy rainfall were forecast by the
Australian Bureau of Meteorology.

8. EVACUATIONS
• Anticipating heavy rainfall,
30,000 were evacuated from
low-lying areas known to be
susceptible to flooding.

9. SOME GOOD NEWS
• Wind gusts of up to 280 kmh (175 mph)
were forecast by the Australian Bureau
of Meteorology, - - -
• But, Ita weakened to a category 4 storm
just before making landfall.
• AND, Ita’s landfall was along a portion
of the coast that is lightly populated,
• so, - - -

10. SOME GOOD NEWS
• - - - SO, damage was much less than
the $3.6 billion price tag of the last
Category 4 cyclone that hit Australia’s
Queensland State in 2011 —CYCLONE
YASI.

11. SOCIO-ECONOMIC IMPACTS
• Impacts were comprised mainly of
power outages, downed trees,
damaged houses, and flooding from
the heavy rainfall, but NO DEATHS yet.
• Large parts of the 1,000 strong
Aboriginal community of Hope Vale and
Cooktown, population 2,400, lost
power.

12. REMEMBERING CYCLONE
YASI

13. CYCLONE YASI STRCK
NORTHERN QUEENSLAND
STATE, AUSTRALIA
The CAT 5 monster storm made landfall
with winds gusting to 300 km/hr
FEBRUARY 2-3, 2011

14. CYCLONE YASI: FROM A TROPICAL
DISTURBANCE (JAN 25) TO A CAT 5

15. CYCLONE YASI NEARING
LANDFALL: FEBRUARY 2, 2011

16. 500 KM (300 MI) WIDE CYCLONE
YASI: FEBRUARY 2, 2011

17. CYCLONE YASI LANDFALL
FORECAST: FEBRUARY 2, 2011

18. Cyclone Yasi made landfall at
Mission Beach around
midnight, about 100
kilometers north of Ingham,
as a category 5 storm

19. The cyclone struck north of the
area in Queensland that had already
been severely impacted by flooding
a month earlier in January.

20. QUEENSLAND WAS RECOVERING
FROM FLOODS IN JANUARY

21. With an “eye” by itself over 100
km wide, this storm was the
worst cyclone in Australia's
history.

22. WIND PENETRATING
BUILDING ENVELOPE
CYCLONES
UPLIFT OF ROOF SYSTEM
FLYING DEBRIS
STORM SURGE
IRREGULARITIES IN
ELEVATION AND PLAN
SITING PROBLEMS
FLOODING AND LANDSLIDES
CAUSES
OF
DAMAGE
“DISASTER
LABORATORIES”

23. YASI’S INITIAL
SOCIOECONOMIC IMPACTS
• Roofs torn off houses
• Trees uprooted
• Thousands without power
• Storm surge of up to 2 meters
• Up to 700 mm of rain in 1-2 hours

24. SOCIOECONOMIC IMPACTS
• 10,000 people evacuated over a
2-day period to 20 evacuation
centers

25. THE BAD NEWS
The combination of Yasi’s very
heavy rainfall as it moved inland
and a very high water table from
the January flooding exacer-
bated the socioeconomic
impacts.

26. WORST FLOODING IN A
DECADE
Floodwaters had drained slowly
towards the country's northeast
coast, filling bulging rivers and
inundating at least 22 towns and
cities in the cattle and fruit and
vegetable farming region.

27. YASI’s IMPACTS
• Socioeconomic impacts for 200
thousand people included:
industrial slow-down,
evacuations, a plague of snakes
and crocodiles, health care
problems, missing persons, 35
deaths, and losses of 3.6 Billion.