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Cyclone ravages remote Australia town, resort 16 Mar 2005 03:07:57 GMT Source: Reuters http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/SYD77044.htm SYDNEY, March 16 (Reuters) - A remote tourist resort was virtually destroyed and a small aboriginal town damaged on Wednesday when a severe cyclone slammed into the northern Australian coast for the third time, officials said. Cyclone Ingrid, packing winds of up to 260 kmh (162 mph), hit the tiny town and aboriginal reserve of Kalumburu, about 500 km (310 miles) southwest of the Northern Territory capital of Darwin, and then devastated the exclusive Faraway Bay resort. "The main building, the actual frames, I mean they are massive logs, they are still there but everything else is gone," resort owner Bruce Ellison told the Australian Broadcasting Corp. "All the workshop, all the staff quarters, all the cabins, they're all gone," said Ellison. The A$595 ($470) -a-night resort is accessible only by air and accommodates a maximum of 12 people in small cabins. Local media said two staff members at the resort were missing but police said no injuries had been reported. Police said power lines and trees were torn down at Kalumburu. There were no reports of serious damage but it was still too early for residents and authorities to leave shelter to properly assess the damage, they said. " ... last night was rather horrific for all the people up here at Kalumburu ... quite scary and quite noisy," said Kalumburu police sergeant Gary Sparks. He said the winds gradually built through the night until they reached their peak very early on Wednesday. A spokeswoman for the Western Australia Fire and Emergency Services Authority said helicopters were on standby to fly emergency supplies into Kalumburu, home to about 350 people, Ingrid has menaced sparsely populated areas of Australia's north for more than a week and at times has been one of the most powerful storms to threaten Australia in a generation. It became a top category five storm over the Pacific Ocean last week before it weakened as it crossed Cape York Peninsula in the northeast. Ingrid then reintensified as it moved west across the Gulf of Carpentaria and battered the Tiwi islands north of Darwin, uprooting trees, ripping off roofs and cutting communications. The cyclone then moved into the Timor Sea and gathered strength again as communities in the north of Western Australia state were placed on alert. Australia's Bureau of Meteorology said Ingrid was still rated as a severe category three cyclone as it slowly moved southwest away from Kalumburu and other settlements. The bureau said heavy rain could cause flooding of low-lying areas in the region. =========+========= FEEDBACK? http://nativenewsonline.org/Guestbook/guestbook.cgi GIVE FOOD: THE HUNGERSITE http://www.thehungersite.com/ Reprinted under Fair Use http://nativenewsonline.org/fairuse.htm =========+========= Tsonkwadiyonrat (We are ONE Spirit) Native News Online a Service of Barefoot Connection Yahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Nat-International/ <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] <*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
