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"North Queensland residents urged to evacuate (Australia)"
The Age ^ | March 19, 2006
Posted on 03/19/2006 1:04:48 AM PST by Dundee
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http://www.theage.com.au
http://www.theage.com.au/news/national/n-qld-residents-urged-to-evacuate/2006/03/19/1142703202029.html
"N. Qld residents urged to evacuate"
March 19, 2006 - 6:17PM
ARTICLE SNIPPET: "Far north Queensland residents in cyclone Larry's path have been urged to evacuate as authorities compare the violent storm to Hurricane Katrina which devastated United States gulf states last year.
Larry could intensify to a category five - the most intense rating for a cyclone - by the time it hits south of Cairns between Innisfail and Cardwell early tomorrow, the Bureau of Meteorology said today.
Counter Disaster and Rescue Services (CDRS) executive director Frank Pagano said residents in low-lying beach communities along the stretch of coast in the cyclone's path should be "really considering" evacuating.
Mr Pagano said mandatory evacuations had not been ruled out as the category four cyclone, with wind gusts of up to 280kph, rapidly approached.
Disaster co-ordination centres were activated in Cairns and Townsville while the state government deployed response teams from Brisbane, in response to imminent destruction caused by gale force winds, torrential rain and flooding, he said.
"This is the most devastating cyclone that we could potentially see on the east coast of Queensland for decades," Mr Pagano told reporters in Brisbane. "There is going to be destruction - we are very certain this cyclone will not peter out.
"(Residents) should be really considering about evacuating any low-lying areas ... that may become mandatory in the future."
He compared the potential force of Larry to Katrina, which ravaged the United States' Gulf states in August last year, killing more than 1,400 people."