[Marine_Uncle]

Stay dry, warm and safe Fred.

[Fred Nerks]

Thanks Uncle, it must be pretty bad, they have evacuated the hospitals and nursing homes, flown the patients and residents to Brisbane - and sent the animals in animal welfare refuge shelters out of the region, free of cost.
Meanwhile I am sitting here a thousand miles to the south, sweltering in front of a pedestal fan, the humidity is dripping from my forehead...
Saying a prayer for the very apprehensive people along the coastline way up north.

[Fred Nerks]

AIRS infrared image of Tropical Cyclone Yasi taken at 7:17 a.m. PST (10:17 a.m. EST) on Feb. 1, 2011. Areas colored purple represent the storm's coldest cloud-top temperatures and areas of heaviest precipitation. Image credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech

Mass evacuations are underway in the northeastern Australian state of Queensland in anticipation of what forecasters expect will be the largest cyclone ever to hit the continent. Yasi has intensified rapidly and currently has winds gusting up to 295 kilometers per hour (183 mph). It is expected to maintain that intensity-equivalent to a Category Five hurricane on the Saffir-Simpson Scale--until landfall in northeastern Queensland between Cairns and Innisfail during the late evening local time on Feb. 2 (early morning Feb. 2 in the United States).