It does seem that when it comes to the furies of mother nature, the best bet is to be prepared. In the recent floods, those who had warning and took precautions faired the best. The poor souls who didn't make it were either caught by surprise in the flash flooding, or ignored the advice and went into flood waters.
Yasi seems to have left much less destruction in its wake than was feared. So far no fatalities have been reported. The people of NQ took the warnings seriously and barricaded and fortified and evacuated.
What disappoints me the most is that the media seem to be taking it very poorly. By sheer luck, Yasi missed the major centres and took out small towns instead, meaning that the damage and potential for death were much reduced. And the ravening wolves of the media packs seem disappointed.
Public sentiment seemed to be captured by a tweet from a Cairns local saying that if the cyclone wasn't enough, A Current Affair and Today Tonight had arrived early yesterday morning in force. I have to agree. There are local, experienced reporters who went through it all. And they are doing a great job. The descent of media packs from elsewhere, digging for dirt, pulling people back into the memory of the fear, well..... It makes me sick. We dont need that. There were enough mobile phones and video camera's capturing it live. And if you didn't live it, you wont ever understand.
But so far so good. Everyone seems to have made it through. My folks caught the edge of the destructive winds, and made it through with just a couple of nearby trees down and the power out.
There will be other cyclones. There will be more damage. There will be lives lost. But its a beautiful part of the world, and when you prepare, you have a good chance of enjoying it for ever.
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