Troops head for Aus's coast
2006-03-21 09:49
Innisfail, Australia - Australia deployed troops in its devastated northeast on Tuesday after a cyclone flattened homes and crops and caused hundreds of millions of dollars in damage.
More than a hundred soldiers backed by helicopters and huge Hercules C-130 transport aircraft, medical teams and field kitchens rolled into the worst-hit town of Innisfail.
"The helicopters are providing food, tarpaulins, water to outlying areas as required, and they've got medical support on board as well," Captain Al Green said.
As a hard rain continued to fall on Tuesday afternoon, residents gathered around makeshift barbecues and soup kitchens in the street where food donated by local shops left without refrigeration was being provided by volunteers.
The streets were strewn with building debris, with the town hall, several schools and a church all damaged. Around half the houses in the town of 8 500 people had their roofs damaged or ripped off entirely.
Residents facing another night of darkness amid the destruction said they had been told it could be at least a week before electricity is restored.
Cyclone Larry
Cyclone Larry, the most powerful storm to hit Australia in decades, battered the Queensland coast on Monday, destroying hundreds of homes, toppling power lines and flattening banana and sugar cane crops worth $500m.
Some 30 people were reported to have suffered minor injuries in the cyclone, which packed winds of up to 290km an hour as it made landfall on a coast popular with tourists visiting the Great Barrier Reef.
Miraculously, there were no fatalities.
Prime Minister John Howard was due to visit the town on Wednesday after pledging quick aid for the victims, while Queensland state Premier Peter Beattie declared a state of emergency in Innisfail.
"The federal government will give what is needed to get these communities back on their feet," Howard said. "We just need a day or two to make a proper assessment of how the money can best be spent."
US President George W Bush, widely criticised over the slow response to the Hurricane Katrina disaster in New Orleans last year, telephoned Howard to offer his sympathies and support, the White House said.
Professor Tom Hardy, a cyclone expert with the Australian Maritime College, said the experience of Hurricane Katrina, which killed more than 1 000 people, probably helped save lives in Queensland.
"I think that the big hurricanes in New Orleans and the Gulf of Mexico last year made people realise 'Oh my gosh, that can happen here'," so they took precautions or evacuated, Hardy said.
State Premier Beattie warned that parts of the state faced a "long, slow" recovery as engineers worked to restore electricity and sewer systems.
With so much water lying around, there was a risk of outbreaks of mosquito-borne diseases such as dengue fever, he said.
A total of 84 000 homes remained without power, electricity officials said, and initial efforts would be concentrated on supplying power to community welfare centres sheltering the homeless.
Authorities were keeping a wary eye on a second storm, Cyclone Wati, which could reach the Queensland coast this week.
- AFP