Australia storm kills 1, litters towns with debris
CARDWELL, Australia — The storm was roaring outside Diane Robson’s waterfront apartment when she edged onto the balcony to check on her boat in the water below. She swept the beam of her flashlight across the harbor until she caught a flash of white: her yacht, the “Laza Beam” — in her neighbor’s yard.
The monstrous cyclone that ripped across Australia’s northeast flung boats from the sea like toys, leaving them in jumbled piles. Robson stared down at her battered yacht from the balcony on Friday; she couldn’t bring herself to look any closer.
“I don’t ever want to get back on the boat again,” she said. “I’m too scared.”
Residents across Queensland state trickled out of their sodden homes today to confront the wreckage left a day earlier by Cyclone Yasi, a fierce storm that flattened dozens of houses and ripped roofs and walls from hundreds more. The storm cut power to thousands of homes and shredded hundreds of millions of dollars worth of banana and sugar cane crops.
Australia marshaled 4,000 troops and sent a supply ship with tons of food to the hardest-hit communities today, as authorities confirmed the first death from the cyclone. Police said a 23-year-old man died from asphyxiation after being overwhelmed by fumes from a diesel-powered generator he was using in a closed room during the storm. Two other people were reported missing.
Residents and officials were amazed the death toll was not higher. The storm thrashed the coast with up to 170 mph winds and sent waves crashing ashore two blocks into seaside communities, as tens of thousands of people huddled in evacuation centers.
Electricity and phone service were gradually being restored today, and roads cleared of downed trees, power lines and twisted metal roofs torn from homes.
