I bet you Australia's government doesn't abandon it's people like* did

[sellitman]

What do you wanna bet?

Just a wild hunch. :sarcasm:

[this_side_up]

1. It wasn't just *. It is the Republicans and enforcing their policies.

The moron is the powerless figurehead. He speaks for the Republicans and
pushes the Republican agendas and it delights the Republicans that he makes
an ass of himself while the Republicans LOL all the way to the bank and
the Republicans snicker at the moron behind his back.

[malaise]

2. All their emergency people are ready and waiting

for the storm to pass.

In addition to the evacuation of island resorts in the path of the cyclone, emergency authorities also have warned residents in low-lying areas between Cairns and Townsville to "seriously consider" leaving.

Disaster coordination centres were activated in Cairns and Townsville while the state government sent response teams from Brisbane, in response to imminent destruction caused by gale force winds, torrential rain and flooding.

"There have been mandatory evacuations of coastal shires south of Cairns ... and emergency shelters set up for people who feel at risk with nowhere to go," said a Cairns City Council Disaster Coordination Centre spokesman.

"It's most likely thousands of people are evacuating to avoid the high tide."

The rapidly approaching category four cyclone, which yesterday sat 470km east of Innisfail in the Coral Sea, is about 300 to 400 kilometres in width and expected to pack winds of up to 280 kph.

Counter Disaster and Rescue Services (CDRS) executive director Frank Pagano compared the potential force of Larry to Katrina, which ravaged the United States' Gulf states in August last year, killing more than 1400 people.

http://www.smh.com.au/news/national/thousands-ordered-to-flee-cyclone-path/2006/03/19/1142703224781.html

[murray hill farm]

3. Is this early in the year...

for cyclones in that area? Our hurricane season does not start until june 1...does theirs start earlier?

[Aviation Pro]

4. This is their September for cyclones....

....if you go to the Japanese MTSAT site you can see the "mirror image" for the Southern hemisphere. Link is here:

http://www.jma.go.jp/en/gms/

[Aviation Pro]

5. Futhermore...

...I spoke with some folks at the National Weather Service at Camp Springs, MD and also at the National Hurricane Center in Miami. Although there has been some discussion to lengthen our tropical cyclone season by 16 days (starting it on May 15th vice June 1st), the conversations never went any further than the memo level.

[babylonsister]

6. The Aussies are towards the end of their summer, which

has been really hot for many of them (my friends live near Sydney and Perth). Sound familiar? But Australia is a huge country, like ours. Where this storm hit is tropical to begin with, south of Cairns and near THE Great Barrier Reef. I wonder what kind of damage that will sustain? :-(

[biggles1]

7. And what makes it worse for us this year...

is that the 'wet' (tropical monsoon) has been later than usual. This often means much more severe storms.

However, the various emergency services are on standby just outside the affected areas. As soon as the worst of the storm has passed, they will swoop in to assist those hurt or in need of shelter. They are a fantastic group of people, reasonably well funded and very well trained.

Most people who live in the north know the cyclone season well and are pretty good at battening down during a big blow.

[Djinn]

8. North of Cairns

people are being directed to Cairns so I presume this cyclone hit quite a bit further up. to be fair this storm would have been unable to cause the sort of damage seen after Katrina because there's not a lot up there to destroy - even if every single building came down and every person was killed it'd still be small fry in comparison.

I agree that faced with a similar disaster Australia would respond better but it's nbot really fair to compare these two incidents

[biggles1]

9. True. From what I gather, the problem for you folk with Katrina

was not so much the effect of the storm per se, but more a result of the failure to a) prepare a vulnerable area like NO for the flooding that results (shoring up the levees) and b) a failure to get the emergency people in there when they were needed in the aftermath.

[babylonsister]

10. Welcome to DU, biggles1!

You got it. First problem was that the levee wasn't considered a problem by anyone until we saw what the lack of a decent levee produced. DHS and FEMA were incompetent and continue to be, and the US is facing another major hurricane season.
:-(

[Djinn]

11. actually I'm in Oz too

but I agree with you, preparation was bad, emergency services were bad, but it would be unfair to compare the outcomes of Katrina and this cyclone - population and infrastructure heaps smaller so less to be damaged and storm itself was smaller

as for whether Howard's govt would abandon Australians...well best to ask Mamdouh Habib, David Hicks, Vivien Solon and Cornelia Rau that question

[babylonsister]

12. OK, djinn, please keep in touch with us! And welcome! nt

[Djinn]

13. have been here for nearly three years

but thanks anayway